75 Tamil Rebels Confirmed Dead in Northern Sri LankaA total of 75 separatist Tamil Tiger rebels have been confirmed killed and 300 others injured when fighting between Sri Lankan government forces and the rebels raged on Wednesday in northern Jaffna peninsula.In the fierce fighting between 5.30 a.m. to 2.30 pm on Wednesday, 32 government soldiers were also killed and around 180 others wounded due to anti-personnel mines planted by Tamil rebels in the battle sites, the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday night. Government forces are consolidating in the newly captured area of approximately eight square kilometers in the peninsula and ground troops estimated that the number of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels killed could be much higher, the statement added. Government troops backed by tanks, artillery and aircraft launched the fresh pre-dawn offensive against Tamil rebels only hours after the rebels called off their unilateral four-month ceasefire which began on Christmas eve, at midnight on Tuesday. Earlier this month the government also observed a four-day ceasefire to mark the traditional Sinhala and Tamil New Year but without extension. The LTTE rebels have been fighting against government forces since 1983 for a separatist Tamil homeland in the north and east of the country. The bloody war has claimed over 60,000 lives. |
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