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Oil 27 Sri Lankan troops and 120 Tamil Tigers killed in fierce clashes for town
November 25, 2008 Edition 2
COLOMBO: At least 27 soldiers and 120 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed as government forces battled their way to the outskirts of the rebels' political headquarters, the defence ministry said yesterday.
Heavy fighting raged along three fronts as troops closed in on the town of Kilinochchi, the ministry said.
But it added that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were putting up stiff resistance.
"Twenty-seven soldiers have made their ultimate sacrifice for the motherland while 70 others suffered injuries during the battle.
"A few other soldiers have not been able to join with their units so far," a statement said.
It said it had intercepted radio transmissions of the Tigers which indicated that they had also suffered heavy casualties in the fighting.
"Over 120 LTTE cadres have been killed and 80 others injured in the Kilinochchi area since Sunday morning," the ministry said.
The ministry statement came as the Tigers announced through the pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website that 43 government troops had been killed and 70 more were wounded in a contact northwest of Kilinochchi.
Sri Lanka's government, which pulled out of a Norwegian-brokered truce in January, has vowed to take the Tiger political capital and dismantle the LTTE's mini-state.
Last week, the military captured the strategically important town of Pooneryn on the northern edge of the mainland and opened a new front to advance on Kilinochchi from the north. - Sapa-AFP
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