Over 300 Killed in Sri Lankan FightingFierce fighting between Sri Lankan government forces and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in the northern Jaffna peninsula continued for a third day Friday, killing more than 300 and injuring 600 on both sides, the Defense Ministry said.The ministry said that an officer and 39 government soldiers were killed and 126 wounded in overnight battles with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels in southern part of Jaffna peninsula. With the latest casualties, the military says it has lost 126 soldiers and placed rebel losses at 180 with more than 600 wounded on both sides However, the Tiger rebels claimed in a statement that more than 300 government soldiers have been killed and over 1,200 wounded in the fighting while only 33 rebels have died. Government troops backed by tanks, artillery and aircraft launched the a pre-dawn offensive against Tamil rebels on Wednesday, only hours after the rebels called off their unilateral four-month ceasefire, which began on Christmas eve, at midnight on Tuesday. The troops are consolidating in the newly captured area of approximately eight square kilometers in the peninsula. 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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