Sri Lanka Says Fresh Fighting Kills 29 In North

22-06-2008

SRILANKA-VIOLENCE
Sri Lanka Says Fresh Fighting Kills 29 In North
Three soldiers also died in the fighting.
ri Lankan troops killed 26 Tamil Tiger rebels in the latest fighting in the island's north, the military said on Friday.

Three soldiers also died in the fighting.

Government forces are waging near daily land, sea and air battles as part of a wider strategy to gradually retake the Tigers' northern stronghold and win a long running civil war.

"Troops killed 26 LTTE terrorists in Thursday's fighting," said a military spokesman at the Media Centre for National Security.

The military said fighting since Sunday had killed 81 rebels and wounded more than 100. A total of 28 solders had also been killed and 68 wounded.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who want to create an independent state in north and east Sri Lanka, were not immediately available for comment on the latest fighting.

The government and rebels trade death toll claims that are rarely possible to independently verify.