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Sri Lankan helicopters bomb rebels trying to block attack
Sri Lankan air force helicopters on Sunday bombed Tamil Tiger rebels who were trying to block troops from capturing their de facto capital, the government said. The Defence Ministry said in a statement that the helicopters attacked rebel positions in Murikandy village, south of the rebel headquarters, Kilinochchi. It did not give casualty details. Meanwhile, the military said it recovered the bodies of four rebels believed to have been killed in fighting Saturday in Otiyamalai village in the northeastern Mullaitivu district. Soldiers took control of the village after the clash. Advance resumed: Sri Lankan security forces have resumed their offensive to capture the political capital of Tamil Tiger rebels after heavy monsoon rains began subsiding, the Defence Ministry said Sunday. "The air sorties were made in support of the advancing 57th division infantry battalions," the ministry said. Flooding had stalled the military push on Kilinochchi and also left nearly half a million people homeless in the island's north. Tiger rebels have admitted that their mini-state has shrunk under the ongoing military onslaught but their leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, has vowed to fight on. Posted by: Fred 2008-12-01 |
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