The Sri Lankan military on Thursday claimed to have killed over 200 Tamil Tiger rebels in heavy fighting that also left at least 44 soldiers dead and over 430 injured.

However, the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam said they lost only 10 of their fighters and claimed that they captured the bodies of 75 government soldiers.

Military sources said the bodies of 38 soldiers and six officers had been brought to Colombo till Wednesday evening and the number of troops wounded was placed at more than 430.

An entire platoon of troops and two tanks were also missing. 'The LTTE recovered more than 75 bodies of Sri Lankan soldiers,' the Tigers said in a statement.

'Efforts are now underway to hand over the bodies to the Sri Lankan military through the International Committee of the Red Cross.'

As more than 100 troops were evacuated to hospitals in Colombo, President Mahinda Rajapakse ordered his ministers to attend to the welfare of the victims, spokesman Chandrapala Liyanage said.

'The president sent ministers to all the hospitals to attend to the needs of the soldiers,' he said.

The heavy casualty figures came a day after Tamil Tiger rebels, in ferocious battles lasting over six hours, stalled a government offensive in the northern peninsula of Jaffna.