Casualties up as fighting rages on in northern Sri Lanka

Dec 12, 2008, 10:50 GMT

Colombo - Fighting continued in northern Sri Lanka amid increasing casualties on both sides as government troops moved closer to strategic locations, military officials said Friday.

The army said its troops confronted rebels in several areas surrounding the town of Kilinochchi, 370 kilometres north of the capital, Colombo, on Thursday, inflicting heavy casualties among the rebels.

But Tamil rebels said the death toll among the army's soldiers had increased from 90 to 120 in fighting on Wednesday around Kilinochchi, a claim denied by the military.

So far the military has officially admitted that only 20 of its soldiers were killed in Wednesday's fighting. Government troops were closing in on Kilinochchi and on Thursday reached a village about 10 kilometres south of the town, military officials said.

Government troops over the past two years have gradually recaptured rebel held areas in the north and eastern provinces and continue to advance into rebel strongholds.

The military claims more than 12,000 rebels have been killed compared to about 2,000 soldiers during that period. However there was no independent confirmation of the figures.