The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Colombo

At least 80 Tamil rebels and five government soldiers were killed in fresh fighting as Sri Lankan security forces tried to break into rebel-held territory, the defence ministry said Sunday.

Fierce battles raged in the north of the island as the military smashed through a bunker line of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) inflicting heavy casualties on the rebels, the ministry said. It raised the number of guerrillas killed in fighting since Saturday morning to 80 from the earlier figure of 22. The ministry added that the number of its troops killed had also risen to five.

But the guerrillas said they resisted the military push and inflicted heavy losses on government forces.

The pro-rebel Puthinam.com website said the Tigers had killed 55 troops and wounded another 120 in Saturday's fighting. The website did not give rebel casualties. Saturday's heavy fighting erupted hours after the Tigers sank a navy fast attack craft off the island's northeastern coast, leaving 10 sailors missing believed dead.

Sri Lankan war planes bombed suspected LTTE facilities Saturday inside the area they control in the north of the island, the defence ministry said, adding that there were no immediate reports of casualties.

The government claims it has killed 2,322 rebels since January against the loss of 136 of its own troops. Colombo allows no journalists or rights groups into the embattled regions, making it impossible to verify the figures.