Government troops consolidating gains in north-eastern Sri Lanka

Jan 17, 2007, 7:00 GMT

Colombo - Government troops Wednesday were consolidating positions in areas recaptured from Tamil rebels in north-eastern Sri Lanka as the death toll in violence continued to rise and hopes faded for an early revival of the stalled peace process, officials said.

Sri Lankan troops backed by air support captured some of the areas previously held by Tamil rebels in the Vakarai area, 280 kilometres north-east of the capital, on Tuesday and continued to build up their forward defences after the recapture.

Government military and Tamil rebels have made counter claims about the casualty figure in the Tuesday fighting, with the military saying they killed 30 rebels and the rebels claiming they killed at least 45 soldiers in the battle.

There has been no independent confirmation about the casualty figures in the fighting, which is taking place in areas where journalists have no access.

The military has stepped up attacks in the Vakarai area in a bid to cut off the links between the rebels in the north and eastern provinces as the area is frequently used by rebels to travel between the two provinces.

In a related development, six bodies of persons believed to be minority Tamils were found in the Vavuniya town, 240 kilometres north of the capital, on Wednesday.

The bodies, all with bullet injuries, had been dumped in various locations in the town.

On Tuesday evening five soldiers and two policemen were killed in the same district in two separate incidents.

The five soldiers were killed in a claymore mine blast believed to have been set off by the rebels, while two other policemen were killed in a similar blast earlier in the day in the same town.

Fighting between rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and government troops has escalated over the past few months, with the death toll of civilians, soldiers and rebels exceeding 3,200 in the past 13 months.

There have been no immediate signs of the rebels and the government reviving peace talks aimed at resolving the country's ethnic conflict. The last time the two sides met was in September 2005, but they failed to achieve any results.