Strangely the Sinhala media who have been screaming about great advances the 250,000 Army, Airforce, Navy, has made on Vanni are very quiet, and silent.
http://www.cyberlk.com/defencemap/ - Tamils For Justice:
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=26812
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080903/wl_sthasia_afp/srilankaunrest;_ylt=A0wNcwmlIb5IuiMB3Q5vaA8F
href="http://http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080903/wl_sthasia_afp/srilankaunrest;_ylt=A0wNcwmlIb5IuiMB3Q5vaA8F">
http://puthinam.com/
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=26812
by Amal Jayasinghe 2 hours, 17 minutes ago
COLOMBO (AFP) - Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers are putting up stiff resistance to a government onslaught, a pro-rebel website said Wednesday, a day after the island's army said it had seized a key town in the north.
Both sides claimed killing and wounding scores of combatants as the government kept up an offensive aimed at dismantling the northern mini-state controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The Tamilnet.com website said LTTE fighters had confronted troops at Naachchikkuda, along the island's northwestern coast, killing 45 soldiers and wounding 51 others.
Another 30 soldiers were killed in clashes elsewhere in the north on Tuesday, Tamilnet said, adding that the Tigers were preparing to return some of the bodies through the Red Cross to the military.
Another pro-rebel website, puthinam.com, released pictures of seven bodies of soldiers. No details were given on the number of rebel casualties.
The island's defence ministry, however, said its forces had killed 54 rebels for the loss of 12 of its own troops reported dead or missing.
On Tuesday, the government -- which pulled out of a Norwegian-brokered ceasefire with the rebels in January -- announced it had captured the strategic northern town of Mallavi.
It described the advance as "one more decisive and impressive phase" in its campaign to defeat the Tigers, who have fought for decades for the creation of a homeland for minority Tamils in the mainly Sinhalese island's north and east.
Sri Lankan authorities have also asked tens of thousands of civilians living in rebel-held territory to cross over to government-held areas in the island's north, in order to avoid getting caught up in the crossfire.
International aid agencies still operating in the region say around 134,000 people have been displaced by the latest fighting, with the United Nations voicing fears that civilians were being increasingly caught up in the war.
"Measures must be taken to prevent displacing people from their homes and livelihoods," the UN humanitarian office said in a statement.
Officials say government forces are now just 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) outside the Tigers' main administrative base at Kilinochchi, which is 330 kilometres north of the capital Colombo.
The Tigers have tacitly admitted losing ground -- but in the past they have surrendered territory only to strike back in devastating counter-attacks.
Kilinochchi has been in government hands during previous episodes of the long-running conflict, and was most recently taken back by the LTTE in 1999 when they reversed months of government gains in the space of several days.
Sri Lankan military brass insist that this time they are adopting better tactics and moving in smaller groups to prevent a repeat of the 1999 debacle.
The Sri Lankan air force is also being used extensively.
The latest casualty figures raise the number of rebels reported killed by troops since January to 6,292. The military admits losing 603 of its soldiers during the same period.
Tens of thousands have died on both sides of the conflict in over three decades of bloodshed.
end:
Strangely the Sinhala media who have been screaming about great advances the 250,000 Army, Airforce, Navy, has made on Vanni are very quiet, and silent.
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=26812
http://www.cyberlk.com/defencemap/
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