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Security forces say they have killed at least 22 Tamil Tiger rebels in a pre-dawn ground battle in eastern Sri Lanka, hours after war planes pounded guerrilla positions in the area.
Troops repulsed an offensive by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) against military camps at Mankerni in Batticaloa district, a defence official in the area said by telephone.
“We have recovered the bodies of 22 Tiger cadres and they may have suffered more casualties,” he said. “We have about five soldiers seriously wounded.”
The separatist guerrillas had fired mortars and automatic assault riles against the army defence line in the coastal region, the official added.
Israeli-built Kfir jets hit locations believed to be held by the LTTE at Kathiraveli, just north of Mankerni army defences, on Thursday night, the defence ministry said in a statement.
The LTTE had moved long-range artillery away from the neighbouring Trincomalee district following a major military offensive there and were now targeting military positions in Batticaloa, the ministry said.
The flare-up came a day after Norway's peace envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer left the island after failing to secure agreement on a venue to resume peace negotiations between the two sides.
However, peace brokers were expected back in Sri Lanka shortly to try and clinch a deal after the government agreed to meet the Tigers on October 28, two days earlier than they originally intended.
The Norwegians were expected to try and secure agreement on a venue after Colombo called for talks in Switzerland while the guerrillas demanded Oslo.
Peace negotiations aimed at ending three decades of ethnic bloodshed came to a halt in April 2003 when the Tigers walked out.
Some 60,000 people have been killed in the separatist conflict since 1972.
