Lanka's deadliest clash in '08; 150 feared dead

About 150 men belonging to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan army were killed and scores injured in nation's embattled northern Jaffna peninsula in the fiercest clash between the two sides this year.

The Sri Lankan Defence Ministry said on Wednesday that its troops killed more than 100 Tamil Tigers while it lost 43 soldiers, with another 33 missing in action. The LTTE, however, claimed that at least 100 Sri Lankan troops were killed in the clashes and put their own losses at 16.

They had also wounded about 500

troops, the rebels added.

The deadliest clash this year came a day after 25 rebels and a soldier lost their lives in confrontations in the restive north of the island nation. Heavy fighting between the troops and rebels broke out on Wednesday as soldiers mounted retaliatory attacks at the offensive LTTE formations, according to the defence sources in Jaffna.