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Colombo: The Sri Lankan military, backed by tanks and war planes, battled Tamil Tiger rebels for over three hours yesterday for control of territory in the east, a military spokesman said.
Separately, seven people, including three police personnel, died in separate incidents in the country.
At least seven government soldiers were wounded in the fight in eastern Batticaloa district, military spokesman Maj Upali Rajapakse said, adding rebel casualties were estimated in the "dozens".
"They [rebels] launched a classic, conventional attack on our troops at dawn today and we fought back and managed to force them to retreat," Rajapakse said, adding that the military used battle tanks and called in air support to bomb rebels' long-range gun positions.
"We believe our attacks have inflicted heavy [rebel] casualties," Rajapakse said.
The Tigers, however, accused the military of trying to seize control of their territory.
"The military has started a big operation to capture territory, they have moved closer to our forward defence lines," the rebels' military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan said from the insurgents' de facto capital of Kilinochchi.
Rajapakse said the rebels had advanced on government areas in Batticaloa on Wednesday prompting the military to mobilise troops.
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