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24 killed in heavy Lankan fighting

Twenty Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and four Sri Lankan soldiers were killed and 44 injured Thursday in heavy fighting at Nagerkovil in northern Jaffna peninsula, during which the Sri Lankan army claimed to have repulsed a rebel counter-attack on a military garrison.

Reacting to LTTE's claims Thursday night that it over run defences of key military garrison near Nagerkovil, army spokesman Brigadier Sanat Karunaratne said all attempts by the Tigers to break the army defences failed.

"Troops have replused the LTTE attacks at Nagerkovil," he said.

However, the LTTE, in a press release from London, claimed major military success at Nagerkovil. It also said that it has shot down an MI-24 helicopter with an anti-aircraft missile and damaged another.

The army admitted the loss of one helicopter Thursday night.

Meanwhile, the naval spokesman Commodore Sarath Mohatty said three LTTE boats, bringing reinforcements to Nagerkovil were destroyed by naval craft after a prolonged fight in the north-eastern Jaffna coast.

Naval boats attacked a flotilla of rebel boats which were bringing well armed cadre to Nagerkovil.

He said three boats were destroyed along with men and material, while others managed to escape the LTTE dominated north-eastern Mullaithivu coast.

Meanwhile, gunmen killed a Tamil journalist and injured his parents and a nephew in northern Jaffna peninsula, official reports said.

Thirtyeight-year-old Mialvahanam Nimala Rajan, a contributor to the BBC's Tamil service, was killed and his parents and nephew injured seriously when the gunmen sprayed the family with bullets on Thursday night, reports from Jaffna said, adding that the killers hurled a grenade into the house before opening fire.

While Rajan was killed on the spot, his parents and nephew were admitted to Jaffna hospital in a critical condition.

Rajan also contributed to a host of Tamil newspapers and national and international Tamil radio networks.

The attack, which took place after the conclusion of the October 10 elections to the nine parliamentary seats in Jaffna, sent shock waves among the press circles and was condemned by various journalist bodies, including the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists and Foreign Correspondents' Association of Sri Lanka.

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