Lankan troops kill 22 Tigers in fresh attack

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka troops killed at least 22 Tamil Tiger rebels in renewed fighting in the island's embattled east Saturday, defence officials said.

Troops repulsed an offensive by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) against military camps at Mankerni in the district of Batticaloa, a day after the air force carried out bombing raids against the rebels, officials said.

"We have recovered the bodies of 22 Tiger cadres and they may have suffered more casualties," a military official in the area said by telephone. "We have about five soldiers seriously wounded."