Eight separatist Tamil Tigers were killed in separate gunbattles along the front lines of Sri Lanka's embattled north, the military said yesterday, as violence continued to escalate following the government's withdrawal from a ceasefire.
Soldiers battled rebels in the villages of Muhamalai and Nagarkovil on the northern Jaffna Peninsula on Friday, killing eight rebels, a defense ministry official said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Soldiers suffered no casualties, he said.
There was no immediate comment from the rebels.
Each side often gives different accounts of the fighting, exaggerating enemy casualties while underreporting its own. Independent confirmation is not possible since the battle zone is a restricted area.
Violence has intensified since the government announced two weeks ago that it was scrapping a six-year-old ceasefire with the rebels -- a pact that had largely been ignored in recent years. The truce officially ended on Wednesday.
Friday's battles came a day after suspected Tamil rebels killed 10 ethnic Sinhalese civilians in southern Sri Lanka, the military said.
The Tigers, listed as a terror organization by the US and the EU, routinely deny responsibility for such attacks.
The fighting also coincided with a visit by a top U.S Navy official, who reaffirmed US support for the government's efforts to fight the rebels.
Admiral Robert Willard, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, ended a two-day visit to Sri Lanka on Friday during which he"`reaffirmed the support of the United States to Sri Lanka in defending against terrorist activity through cooperation on maritime security," the US embassy said.
Willard met with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and senior military officials and discussed US help in countering the Tamil Tigers, the embassy said in a statement, without giving details.
The Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for an independent state in the north and east for the ethnic Tamil minority.
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