Sri Lanka push into rebel north leaves many dead

COLOMBO (AFP) - Heavy fighting erupted in northern Sri Lanka on Wednesday as government troops tried to take Tamil rebel-held territory, the defence ministry said, reporting scores of guerrillas killed or wounded.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched a major attack against military positions in Mannar district and troops retaliated with their own fresh offensive, the ministry said in a statement.

"The LTTE has suffered heavy casualties, with scores believed killed," the ministry said, adding that only four government soldiers were wounded.

It was not clear how the military estimated rebel casualties. Dead bodies of enemy combatants are rarely recovered by either side.

There was no immediate word from the rebels about the latest battles.

The defence ministry said troops had launched an offensive early Wednesday to capture Adampan village from the Tigers.

"Troops continued to surge into LTTE territory towards Adampan junction in a fresh offensive launched at 6:00 am," the ministry said.

Rebel artillery fire was neutralised by security forces, the statement added.

It said 23 Tiger rebels were killed Tuesday while another 28 Tiger rebels and three government soldiers had been killed in intense fighting on Monday.

According to latest ministry figures, at least 1,358 rebels have been killed so far this year -- equivalent to more than a third of rebel strength as estimated by the military at the start of the year.

The military counts 77 soldiers and police killed over the same period.

Casualty figures provided by both sides differ wildly and cannot be independently verified. Journalists and human rights workers are barred from frontline and rebel-held areas.

The Sri Lankan government last month officially pulled out of a truce with the rebels, who have fought for more than three decades for an independent ethnic homeland in the Sinhalese-majority island.