Sri Lankan officials say a bomb blast killed six soldiers and wounded several others Saturday in the northern Jaffna peninsula.
The improvised device exploded as soldiers cleaned up the area after a failed attempt by Tamil Tiger rebels to capture the peninsula.
In the capital of Colombo, police say they found a major weapons cache and arrested at least 17 people, including two women.
Authorities say the suspects were planning a major attack. Police say they seized hand grenades and mines in the raid.
Meanwhile, Tamil Tigers released a policeman Saturday, who had been held for nearly a year after he strayed into rebel territory while pursuing a pedophile.
The release followed a request from Ulf Henricsson, the outgoing head of the team monitoring the 2002 ceasefire between the government and rebels.
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters