31 killed in clashes

Six security personnel and 25 Tiger guerrillas were killed in sporadic clashes in the north and east since Friday as troops recovered more weapons left behind by LTTE cadres, a military spokesman said.

At Tirukkovil in Batticaloa, an STF commando was killed in a clash with a group of LTTE cadres on Friday. An LTTE cadre was also killed.

Three more soldiers and six LTTE cadres were killed at Kadeperuma Kulam in Vavuniya in another clash on Friday. In a separate incident two soldiers were killed in Jaffna in a claymore mine explosion on the same day. Eighteen LTTE cadres were killed in Muhamalai in two different incidents, the spokesman said.