Nine LTTE rebels and five Sri Lankan soldiers were killed in different encounters in the North and East, as army claimed to have repulsed a major LTTE attack on military garrisson near northern Vavuniya on Wednesday. Three soldiers and an LTTE rebel were killed in a clash, which erupted after the Tamil Tigers attacked an army garrisson at Ganeshpuram on the Vavuniya-Mannar road, an official press release said in Colombo. Only seven soldiers were in the Garrisson at the time of the attack with over 30 others having gone on routine patrolling, it said. The patrolling troops returned soon and engaged the attackers from behind forcing them to flee, the release said. An LTTE video cameraman, who was shooting the attack on the camp, was injured in the clash and died of wounds later. Eight rebels were killed in northern Jaffna in confrontation with the troops on Tuesday, while two soldiers were killed and seven injured when the tractor in which they were travelling was blown up by the rebels near Chammanin in the peninsula. Bureau Report