13 killed in fresh incidents in North-East

One soldier was killed and six were wounded in an explosion which occurred when a group of army personnel attempted to inspect an abandoned vehicle during a search operation south of Narakamulla in the Batticaloa district yesterday.

The troops had found the vehicle left by a group of fleeing LTTE cadres and it exploded when they attempted to inspect it, the Media Center for National Security said. Meanwhile three soldiers and seven LTTE cadres were killed in two separate incidents in Vavuniya and Jaffna on Friday, the military said.

In one incident, soldiers confronted a group of LTTE cadres in Vavuniya district, and fighting there left five rebels and three soldiers dead. Hours before, in northern Jaffna peninsula, army troops shot and killed two rebels who were attempting to enter government-held areas. Fighting has intensified since last week as government troops captured the key coastal territory in the northern district of Mannar. There has been no comment from the LTTE about the latest military claims.