“Army captured Viyattankulam area in Mannar, destroying 16 bunkers and killing 22 terrorists in Pallekuli in Mannar during the confrontation Tuesday morning,” a top defence official said, adding that five LTTE dead bodies were also recovered along with few weapons by the troop. It was only on Monday that the military said that at least 28 Tigers and two soldiers were killed in these areas when they were locked in heavy gun-battle.

Meanwhile, the LTTE Peace Secretariat in a statement claimed that 18 civilians including 11 school children were killed on Tuesday afternoon when their bus came under a claymore bomb attack in Mannar district.
However, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara denied the military hand in the attack and denied the allegations.

“We completely deny the LTTE allegation of carrying out an attack on a civilian bus in Madhu area. We do not operate in these areas and they are under the control of the LTTE,” Brig  Nanayakkara told Deccan Herald.