Search the Internet          Tips

38 killed in fresh Lanka offensive

The Sri Lankan Army has lost 13 men, including three officers, while the separatist Tamil Tiger militants have reportedly lost more than 25 cadres in the latest army offensive launched at the strategic Muhamali area on Monday night.

An army spokesman said three officers and eight soldiers were killed in an anti-mine explosion Tuesday evening while they were clearing the recently-captured Muhamali. Two soldiers were killed during the operation earlier in the day.

''Since Tuesday evening there has been no fighting but the troops are engaged in a clearing operation. The area is filled with booby trap mines,'' he said.

The army offensive on Monday night forced the guerrillas to abandon key positions in and around Muhamali, the spokesman said, adding that the army troops have now straightened their frontline from Kilali to Nagarkovil.

In the operation on January 16 and 17, the army lost 54 soldiers, including two officers and about 250 men were wounded.

With the latest success, that allowed the troops to regain 2.5 km of the Jaffna-Kandy highway, they have now recaptured the road from Jaffna to a place just two km west of Pallai on the main supply route.

The spokesman said the troops were now in control of 34.5 km of the 53 km-long Jaffna-Elephant Pass main supply route.

Since the last week of September, troops have been on the offensive and have recaptured 140 sq km. It is now confirmed that more than 1,220 guerrillas were killed and nearly 1,250 wounded in operations.

Now, almost 85 per cent of the Jaffna peninsula is under the control of the army, the spokesman said.

UNI

RELATED REPORT
Sri Lanka calls for talks with LTTE

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report