The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Colombo

At least 90 rebels and soldiers were killed and hundreds wounded when Sri Lankan security forces launched an offensive against Tiger guerrillas on Wednesday, the defence ministry said.

A ministry spokesman said 38 soldiers were killed and 84 seriously wounded when they tried to advance into territory held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the northern Jaffna peninsula. The spokesman said the guerrillas lost 52 of their fighters. There was no immediate word from the rebels about their casualties.

The spokesman said 52 Tiger rebels and 15 government soldiers were killed in the clashes. However a military source told AFP that the security force casualties were 20 dead and 160 wounded.

There was no immediate word from the Tigers about casualties.

Both sides announced that heavy fighting broke out under the cover of darkness and raged for several hours.

Meanwhile, security forces killed at least nine rebels in the north of the island on Tuesday, the defence ministry said, placing its own casualties at 10 soldiers injured on that day.

The LTTE have been fighting since 1972 to carve out an independent homeland for minority Tamils in the north and east. Tens of thousands have died on both sides.

Security forces have killed at least 3,025 rebels since the beginning of January, according to defence ministry figures, while 195 government soldiers have died in action during the same period.

Both sides offer wildly fluctuating casualty figures which cannot be independently verified as Colombo bars media workers and rights groups from entering frontline areas.