Sri Lankan troops killed 23 Tamil Tigers in clashes in the east overnight and overran four rebel bases, the military said on Tuesday, as the island's president called for a South Asian anti-terrorism drive.
Monday's clashes in the eastern district of Batticaloa, where troops are seeking to evict the rebels from territory they control, came on the same day suspected Tigers bombed a civilian bus in the island's restive east, killing 16 people, mostly women and children.
"There are 23 confirmed LTTE dead," military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe told a media briefing. "We have captured four bases without confrontation." The Tigers were not immediately available for comment, but have denied involvement in the bus bombing in the eastern district of Ampara or the slaying of six tsunami aid project construction workers, which the foes each blame on the other.
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