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Colombo: At least 16 Tamil Tigers died in gunbattles with government troops in northern Sri Lanka, while a roadside bomb killed one soldier in the government-controlled south, the military said on Saturday.
Troops attacked Tamil Tiger bunkers and killed seven rebels on Friday in the northern Vavuniya district, just south of the rebels' de facto state in the north, said military spokesman Brigadier. Udaya Nanayakkara. Two soldiers were injured in the fighting, Nanayakkara said.
Two other battles in the northern Jaffna peninsula on Friday left seven insurgents dead and two soldiers wounded, he said.
Another confrontation in Mannar district left two rebels dead, he added.
Meanwhile, a roadside bombing on Saturday near the southeastern town of Buttala killed one soldier.
In an e-mailed statement, the Tamil Tigers said their fighters killed four soldiers in the blast, and that the rebels suffered no casualties.
Nanayakkara said denied the rebels' claim. The rebel statement did not give details of fighting in the north.
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