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Colombo: Government troops attacked a rebel bunker line in northern Sri Lanka, sparking a three-hour battle that killed 12 Tamil Tiger fighters, the military said on Wednesday.
The battle in Murunkaiadipiddi was part of a wave of fighting along the frontlines of Sri Lanka's civil war on Tuesday that killed 29 rebels and three soldiers, the military said.
In Murunkaiadipiddi, troops destroyed five rebel bunkers after a firefight that lasted three hours, the military said.
A total of 12 rebels were killed, and the army recovered the bodies of two male and two female rebel fighters, the military said in a statement.
Fighting in other parts of the war zone killed 17 Tamil rebels and three soldiers, the military said.
It was not possible to independently verify the military reports because the government has barred most journalists from the northern jungles that have become the theatre of conflict.
The rebels have been fighting for an independent state in the nation's north and east since 1983, following decades of marginalisation by governments dominated by the Sinhalese majority.
The rebels said on Tuesday they would declare a unilateral ceasefire for 10 days beginning Saturday in view of a regional summit of South Asian leaders starting in Colombo at the end of the month.
However, if the government continued its offensive against them, they would respond, the rebels said.
Contradictory statements
Government officials have given contradictory statements on the offer, with some rejecting it out of hand and others saying it needed to be studied.
Meanwhile, the government announced that a cherished statue of the Virgin Mary, known as Our Lady of Madhu, had been returned to government-held territory ahead of a religious pilgrimage.
In April, government forces captured the Roman Catholic Church in Madhu, 210 kilometres north of Colombo, after it had been abandoned by the rebels. But priests had moved the statue, which is believed to possess miraculous healing powers, deeper into rebel-held territory and away from the frontlines for safekeeping.
Thousands of Sri Lankans make the annual August pilgrimage to the church to see the statue.
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