The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Colombo

Heavy fighting broke out in northern Sri Lanka on the eve of a South Asian summit in the capital, leaving at least 14 government soldiers and 38 rebels killed, a military official said Saturday.

The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) offered stiff resistance to a military advance in the Mallavi area, deep inside rebel-held territory on Friday, spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said.

"Terrorists have lobbed hundreds of mortars in order to slow down the advancing soldiers," the defence ministry said.

The latest clashes came as Sri Lanka hosted a two-day summit of the eight-member South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in the capital Colombo on Saturday.

The defence ministry said helicopter gunships were deployed to provide cover for ground troops engaged in the battle with the Tigers in the island's north.

The Tamil Tigers said they had resisted a major military onslaught against them and claimed killing 30 government soldiers and wounding another 60.

The pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website reported that the Tigers had also seized a troop carrier that was trying to evacuate wounded soldiers. The guerrillas did not give their casualties.

Friday's toll raises the number of rebels killed by government soldiers to 5,474, while 492 soldiers have died in combat since January, according to a defence ministry tally.

Casualty claims from either side cannot be verified as the ministry blocks journalists from visiting the frontlines.

The fighting is taking place 250 kilometres (160 miles) north of the capital, but there has recently been a string of attacks on Colombo that the government has blamed on the rebels.

The LTTE had offered a unilateral ceasefire for the summit, but Colombo brushed off the proposal and stepped up attacks against rebel positions in the north.

The Tigers have been fighting for a separate Tamil homeland in the majority Sinhalese nation since 1972.