21 killed in Sri Lanka gun battles

Soldiers and Tamil separatists fought gunbattles across northern Sri Lanka, leaving 19 rebels and two soldiers dead, the military said today.

Troops killed 10 Tamil Tiger rebels in confrontations in three villages in the Vavuniya district yesterday, just south of rebel-held territory, a defense ministry official said. One soldier was also killed.

Separate battles in nearby Mannar district left eight insurgents and one soldier dead, and another rebel was killed on the northern Jaffna peninsula, the official said.

It is impossible to independently verify the military’s claim because access to the area is restricted. Both sides often exaggerate their enemies’ casualties while undercounting their own.

Including the latest clashes, a total of 41 rebels and three soldiers were killed along the northern front lines over the weekend, according to military figures.

Fighting has escalated in recent weeks along the front lines surrounding the Tamil Tiger rebels’ de facto state in the north. The military push is aimed at crushing the separatist movement and ending nearly a quarter of a century of war on the Indian Ocean island.

The rebels began fighting in 1983 to create an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils after decades of discrimination under governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict. A 2002 ceasefire between the Tamil Tigers and the government broke down two years ago.