COLOMBO, 13 August 2006 — Hundreds were killed as Tamil Tiger rebels mounted a fierce offensive yesterday to retake Sri Lanka’s northern Jaffna Peninsula, the heart of the island’s Tamil minority, the military and rebels said, amid the heaviest fighting since the two sides signed a 2002 cease-fire.
Thousands of civilians were reported to be trapped by the fighting, much of it focused around the village of Muhamalai, a dividing line between territories controlled by the government and the rebels — and a strategic spot along the only highway that heads into the core of the peninsula.
More than 200 rebels and 27 government soldiers were killed in yesterday’s fighting, which continued as night fell, said military spokesman Brig. Athula Jayawardana. Eighty more government soldiers were injured, he said.
Rebel officials could not be reached for comment on their casualties, and the government’s report could not be confirmed.
Yesterday’s fighting began early in the morning, when the rebels launched attacks against navy camps in the town of Trincomalee, and later pushed against government forces in Muhamalai and elsewhere, Jayawardana said.
A pro-rebel website, TamilNet, said the insurgents had overrun an army checkpoint at the village along the dividing line, but a statement from the Defense Ministry said soldiers had beaten them back, and that government forces were in “firm and full control over the peninsula.”
Meanwhile, unidentified gunmen shot dead yesterday a top Sri Lankan official involved in the Norwegian-led peace process with Tamil Tiger rebels, police said.
Ketheesh Loganathan, the deputy secretary-general of the Peace Secretariat, was shot at his home in Colombo, police said, adding that he was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.
