World

Sri Lanka forces 'kill 52 rebels'

by Dave Keating | April 22, 2008 at 11:22 pm

539 views | 10 Recommendations | 7 comments

Two divisions from the Sri Lankan Army have crossed into the territory controlled by Tamil rebel group the Tamil Tigers. The Sri Lankan military says they killed 52 Tigers, but both sides frequently exagerate enemy losses. The Tigers have been fighting for decades for independence for the Tamil minority in the island nation.

At least 52 Tamil Tiger rebels and 15 soldiers have been killed in clashes in the Jaffna peninsula in northern Sri Lanka, the country's military says.

More than 70 soldiers were wounded in the heavy fighting, which broke out along the front line in the Muhamalai area, it added.

There has been no independent confirmation of the casualty figures.

Fighting in Sri Lanka has intensified since January, when the government pulled out of a formal ceasefire deal.

The government said the rebels had used the truce signed in 2002 to rearm and regroup. It has said it aims to crush them by the end of this year.

At least 70,000 people have died since the civil war began in 1983.

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caterina12

at 01:29 on April 23rd, 2008

this is truly a spam.

Vinny

at 03:58 on April 23rd, 2008

No it's not!

jayr_patron

at 04:05 on April 23rd, 2008

i think that's a bot.

PEP

at 10:49 on April 23rd, 2008

Wot? If I was confused here, imagine how confused I am about this. Only one answer: time for a girl to go to her hairstylist! ;} There are priorities in life, you know.

Sanjay Jha

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 01:30 on April 23rd, 2008

Dave Keating, I like this story. It's good stuff. We need more update. This war is killing many people everday on both sides.

agora

at 10:39 on April 23rd, 2008

Attn: Dave,

In reply to your apparent reactionary editing

Clearly "spam" as defined by what standards? The article provides information for readers who are interested in higher education, and includes no references to sales gimmicks.

It is apparent that your prejudicial editing is reactionary and biased.

Jordan Yerman

at 10:37 on April 24th, 2008

An update:

The Tigers returned the bodies of 28 troops killed by them while the military handed over a body of one Tiger rebel, officials said, adding that the swap was arranged by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

LTTE spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiriyan said the Tigers, who have been fighting for decades for an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils, had killed more than 100 government troops and wounded about 500.

Ilanthiriyan raised the LTTE's own losses to 25 from the 16 admitted on Wednesday night.

However, the defence ministry said its forces killed more than 100 Tigers and reported losing 43 soldiers, with another 33 missing in action.

It was the security forces' biggest loss in a single offensive since October 2006, with hospitals in and around Colombo packed with wounded soldiers evacuated from Jaffna.

Even as the fighting subsided in Jaffna, security forces and Tigers traded fire elsewhere in the north of the island, the defence ministry said, adding that 32 rebels had been killed in other clashes with troops on Wednesday.