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| Sri Lanka |
| Sri Lanka battles claim 27 lives |
| 2007-09-25 |
| Heavy fighting between security forces and Tamil rebels in northern Sri Lanka has left at least 27 people dead, military officials said Monday. The LTTE lost at least 20 men in pre-dawn clashes Monday on the Jaffna peninsula, according to the defence ministry. Another three Tigers were killed in the Wanni region further south, it added. Government troops were attempting to break into territory in Wanni where the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) run a mini-state. The fighting also left two security personnel, including an officer, dead and 30 soldiers wounded on Sunday. Another two were killed and 15 wounded in Jaffna early Monday, officials said. There was no immediate word from the LTTE about its losses, which could not be confirmed independently. A pro-rebel website said both sides traded artillery fire in the Mannar district, part of the Wanni region. “The Sri Lanka army had suffered casualties in a ground operation launched Sunday in Thampanai area (in the Wanni),” Tamilnet said without elaborating. The clashes came after the government’s top defence official offered Sunday to halt military action in exchange for a resumption of peace talks stalled since last October. Troops would not press ahead with an offensive if Tamil rebels agreed to talks, defence ministry secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse told a newspaper amid pressure from the island’s key foreign backers to halt the carnage. “The decision (of war or peace) is theirs and I believe they wouldn’t reject this opportunity,” Rajapakse told the Sunday Island newspaper. “We’ll not take advantage of the ground situation,” if the Tiger rebels agree to negotiate. Rajapakse, who is also the president’s younger brother, made the comments after the United States urged Colombo to abandon a military drive. There has been no reaction from the Tigers to Rajapakse’s offer of talks. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 The problem for the Sri Lankan troops is that the farther they go into that area, the deeper they get into true enemy territory. The LTTE has held those areas for years, and have bunker systems and minefields all laid out. Plus the local population is thoroughly penetrated and/or cowed. So, the Sri Lankans have to be willing to take dead and wounded for each metre of ground, and the political will just is not there right now. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2007-09-25 18:37 |
| #2 3 dead and 30 wounded, and they don't intend to take advantage of the situation? Smash the LTTE once and for all. |
| Posted by: gromky 2007-09-25 10:48 |
| #1 well, there goes the truce sri lanka offered yesterday |
| Posted by: sinse 2007-09-25 08:38 |