At least 14 Sri Lankan soldiers and three Tamil Tigers were killed and several others wounded when troops backed by supersonic jets and long-range artillery weapons clashed with Tamil Tiger rebels in the northern Vavuniya district on Saturday, military here said.
“Heavy fighting erupted on the Wanni front as the LTTE terrorists fired heavy mortars at SL army soldiers at Periyathampanai on the Vavuniya-Mannar road on Saturday morning,” the Defence Ministry said.
On Sunday evening, the Defence Ministry said that the death toll of the military personnel killed in the attack rose to 14 with the LTTE handing over bodies of four soldiers through the ICRC.
The Defence Ministry said on Sunday evening  that the bodies have been identified as those of four soldiers who had gone missing in action after the clashes at Periyathampanai on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Tamil Tigers have claimed that at least 16 Sri Lankan soldiers and three of their own cadres were killed when they put up heavy resistance against a two-pronged military assault on Saturday.