(KUNA) -- The death toll in a Sri Lankan military operation against Tamil rebels has exceeded 100 after two days of fighting, government said Tuesday. Sri Lankan government troops supported by air and artillery began the offensive Sunday. At least 13 soldiers have been killed and over 80 injured. The military said it killed more than 90 rebels, Military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe told reporters Tuesday at capital Colombo, news agency Indo-Asian News Service reported.The Sri Lankan military wants to control Trincomalee harbour on the country's Eastern Coast. Colombo accuses the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to launch attacks on the naval base at Trincomalee and shipping lines. The Military spokesman claimed the operation was in retaliation to rebel attacks in the area and was not an offensive action.
Meanwhile in a separate incident, at least 16 LTTE cadres were killed by Army when they tried to infiltrate the military's forward defence lines in Puarasankulam, 260 kms north of Colombo, Samarasinghe said. Meanwhile, an editor at a Tamil radio station in Colombo was abducted Tuesday morning, the news agency reported. He was working for the Sooryan FM radio station, known for its in-depth coverage of the situation in the north and eastern provinces.