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SRI LANKA: REBEL CLASHES DEATH TOLL CLIMBS TO 24 November 25, 2006
Bonny Apunyu
(SomaliNet) The death toll from a fight between the Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tiger rebels in the country's north and east on Thursday has hit 24, the defence ministry said.
The Sri Lankan tropes say they killed 24 rebels however, Tamil Tigers said that only one rebel died, and seven government commandos were also killed. Meanwhile, more than 3,000 people have died in fighting over the past one year, the government says.
Both sides have been accusing each other of initiating the fighting and violating a 2002 ceasefire agreement.
The worst fighting took place in the eastern Batticaloa region where the Sri Lankan government said 19 Tamil rebels and four policemen were killedin two clashes.
The Sri Lankan government said five more rebels were shot dead in a confrontation in the northern Vavuniya district.
The government also accused the rebels of killing two civilians in the east. The Tigers say government troops killed a student and injured five others.
The Sri Lankan government denies that seven of its commandos have been killed. But it says seven other security personnel were killed in separate incidents, away from the battlefield, the Associated Press news agency reports