Heavy fighting in northern Sri Lanka has left at least 120 rebels and 25 soldiers dead and 10 more soldiers missing, the Sri Lankan military reported Tuesday night. The casualties were from fighting on several fronts in the Kilinochchi and Jaffna districts, more than 300 kilometres north of the capital on Tuesday, military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said. Government troops have launched a series of operations to recapture rebel held areas in the northern part of the country, after vowing to crush the Tamil rebels, who have fought for 3 decades to create a sovereign Tamil state in the north-east of the country, before the end of the year. The military spokesman said that at least 250 rebels and 160 soldiers have also been injured in Tuesday's fighting in the north. The pro-rebel Tamilnet website said that the Tamil forces had killed at least 40 soldiers, a claim denied by the military spokesman. In a separate incident late Tuesday evening Tamil rebels launched a counter attack from a lagoon on the army forward defence lines at Kilaly, 380 kilometres north of the capital, but the military claimed they repulsed the attack destroying at least one rebel boat. No details of the casualties were available immediately. The recent fighting in the north has left over 300,000 persons displaced and adverse weather has made conditions more difficult.
