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Lankan tanks, jets battle rebels for third day
Sri Lankas military battled Tamil Tiger rebels with tanks and fighter jets along a shared border in the islands east on Thursday, with each side blaming the other for the outbreak of fighting. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said the army entered no-mans land in the eastern district of Batticaloa with tanks and armoured vehicles, while the military said the Tigers were first to fire heavy artillery. The army said seven soldiers were injured, but there were no details of any rebel casualties. In a separate incident in the eastern district of Ampara further south, three policemen were killed in a firefight with Tigers who had ambushed them in paddy fields in government territory, officials said. There is an intense confrontation going on, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan told Reuters by telephone from the town of Kilinochchi, the rebels northern stronghold. They are moving with tanks and armoured personnel carriers towards our forward defence line, he added, referring to the fighting in Batticaloa. They are trying to come into our territory. They have breached the no-mans zone and are still in it. The military denied it had entered no-mans land, and said that air force fighter jets had launched a third consecutive day of air strikes on rebel positions after rebels initiated attacks. Posted by: Fred 2006-11-24 |
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