Sri Lanka's army said on Sunday that 28 soldiers and dozens of Tamil Tigers had been killed in their advance across frontlines in the island's far north, as the rebels accused them of shattering what is left of a 2002 truce. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said fighting continued to rage in no-man's land on Sunday morning. They said six of their fighters had died since the offensive in the northern Jaffna peninsula began on Friday and 13 were wounded.
"We have destroyed the bunkers of the LTTE," said army spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe. "It was a successful operation and at the moment we are consolidating the area," he said. He said 28 soldiers had been killed and 119 injured, while the Defence Ministry said it believed at least 60 rebels had died.
The Tigers have threatened to retaliate with all their might if government offensives continue. "The Sri Lankan government have declared war against the LTTE by these offensive attacks," S Puleedevan, head of the Tigers' peace secretariat, told Reuters by satellite phone from the northern rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi.