COLOMBO: At least 128 people were killed in the battle between the Sri Lanka Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the last 24 hours in the east and north, according to the Government. They included 28 army and navy personnel.

This was the bloodiest battle since the 2002 ceasefire.

The clashes took place when the Tigers attempted to overrun the army's forward defence line (FDL) in the Jaffna peninsula on Friday evening. The army claimed that it repulsed the attack and neutralised the LTTE.

At a news briefing here, the Government Defence spokesman and Minister, Keheliya Rambukwella, said the LTTE offensive had all the trappings of "Eelam IV" (fourth war by the LTTE in its goal of establishment of an independent Eelam). The Government was determined to thwart the designs.

"Water war"

What began as a "water war" on July 26, as a response to the LTTE decision to block the gates of a waterway in the east, spread to Trincomalee and Batticaloa in the east and now the Jaffna peninsula in the north. The "water blockade" was lifted on August 8.

In less than three weeks, hundreds of people died and an estimated one lakh were displaced.

Military spokesman Athula Jayawardena told reporters that 280 people were wounded in the latest fighting. The LTTE used 400-500 fighters to attack the FDL and a nearby islet. The Tigers fired 130-mm artillery at the Palaly airbase and damaged a Bell 212 helicopter but the airport was operational.

Peace negotiator killed

Kethesh Logananathan, deputy secretary-general of the Government's Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) and former EPRLF member, was shot dead by unknown gunmen near Vandervet place in Dehiwela Colombo at 9.30 p.m. on Saturday.

Mr. Loganathan had taken part in the negotiations between the Government and Tamil militant groups, from the Thimpu Peace talks of 1985 to the Mangala Moonesinghe Parliamentary Select Committee of 1992.

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