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Claims of heavy casualties in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: The Sri Lanka military on Friday claimed to have made some territorial gains along the Forward Defence Lines (FDLs) in Mannar district amid reports of heavy fighting and casualties.

The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the pro-LTTE TamilNet gave conflicting versions of the continuing battles. Both claimed to have inflicted heavy casualties on the other side. There is no way the reports could be verified independently.

A statement by the Defence Ministry claimed here that at least 39 cadres of the LTTE were killed and the troops advanced into a general area south of Adampan Tank in Mannar, forcing “terrorists to flee”. In the first confrontation, the military said 12 Tiger cadres were killed.

The ministry said that two soldiers were killed and five others were wounded in the pitched gunfire exchanged between troops and the LTTE.

It claimed that at least 27 LTTE cadres were killed and over 23 injured as troops moved further into LTTE-dominated areas in Muhamalai, Vavuniya, Mannar and Welioya on Thursday.

Fighting erupted between the LTTE and troops at the Nagarkovil FDL where LTTE elements were driven off the trench lines with “soaring casualties”.

Troops advanced into LTTE defences in Periyapantrichurichchan and attacked two bunker defences, killing six Tiger cadres. TamilNet, however, claimed that at least 13 soldiers were killed and 28 wounded in clashes in the past three days in Mannar. Quoting the LTTE’s “Operations Commands”, the web site said six soldiers were killed when the army launched a ground push in Adampan.

It said, “Two operations by SLA teams were thwarted while they were engaged in placing claymore bombs in Valaiyankaddu and Pa’ndivirichchaan areas”.

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