79 dead as Sri Lanka forces battle Tamil Tigers

Sri Lanka’s armed forces and Tamil Tiger rebels traded artillery fire overnight, as the military advanced on a strategic Tiger-held enclave in the northeast in an assault that has killed at least 79 people, the military said today.

Military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said 13 soldiers and 66 insurgents had been killed since Sunday, when the army, navy and air force launched a combined operation to retake Tiger-held Sampur.