Ferocious fighting erupted in Sri Lanka on Wednesday as government troops made a fresh bid to break into rebel territory, leaving at least 67 dead on both sides, the Defence Ministry said.
A ministry spokesperson said 74 soldiers and about 100 rebels were also seriously wounded.
The battle started when soldiers tried to move from the Muhamalai defence line on the northern Jaffna peninsula and advance into an area held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The spokesperson said 52 Tiger rebels and 15 government soldiers were killed in the clashes. However, a military source told Agence France-Presse that the security-force casualties were 20 dead and 160 wounded.
There was no immediate word from the Tigers about casualties.
Both sides announced that heavy fighting broke out under cover of darkness and raged for several hours.
Meanwhile, security forces killed at least nine rebels in the north of the island on Tuesday, the Defence Ministry said, placing its own casualties at 10 soldiers injured on that day.
The LTTE have been fighting since 1972 to carve out an independent homeland for minority Tamils in the north and east. Tens of thousands have died on both sides.
Security forces have killed at least 3 025 rebels since the beginning of January, according to Defence Ministry figures, while 195 government soldiers have died in action during the same period.
Both sides offer wildly fluctuating casualty figures, which cannot be independently verified as Colombo bars media workers and rights groups from entering frontline areas. — AFP
