Heavy clashes broke out between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels in three areas of Sri Lanka's volatile north and east, killing a large number of insurgents and injuring eight soldiers, the military said yesterday.
The fighting came a day after the government said it is ready to resume stalled peace talks with the Tamil rebels late this month in Switzerland.
The Tigers launched an attack on a military camp in Mankerni in Batticaloa District early yesterday, military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said.
Rebels could not immediately be reached for comment.
The army, supported by fighter helicopters, repulsed the rebel attack.
"We have pushed them back," Samarasinghe said, adding that a large number of rebel bodies were lying on the battlefield, but that exact details were unavailable and that fighting was continuing.
Two soldiers were wounded in the attack, Samarasinghe said.
In the northern Jaffna Peninsula, six soldiers were wounded yesterday when Tamil Tigers fired artillery toward northern defense line, he said.
Samarasinghe said the air force later launched air strikes on rebel artillery and mortar positions.
Separately, soldiers destroyed six Tamil Tiger rebel boats off the country's northern coast suspected of transporting fuel, he said.
The boats were destroyed overnight in the sea near Pallaithivu, an islet off the northern Jaffna Peninsula, by the soldiers' artillery fire from the ground, he said.
A suspected oil storage facility on the islet also caught fire and was destroyed, he said.
A round of peace talks is planned for Oct. 28 and 29 in Switzerland. The last round of peace talks aimed at ending two decades of civil war was held in February.
The rebels agreed to unconditional talks with the government, but warned they would pull out of a 2002 ceasefire accord if the government persists with its military campaign.
The government cautioned it would counter any offensives by the insurgents.
An endangered baby pygmy hippopotamus that shot to social media stardom in Thailand has become a lucrative source of income for her home zoo, quadrupling its ticket sales, the institution said Thursday. Moo Deng, whose name in Thai means “bouncy pork,” has drawn tens of thousands of visitors to Khao Kheow Open Zoo this month. The two-month-old pygmy hippo went viral on TikTok and Instagram for her cheeky antics, inspiring merchandise, memes and even craft tutorials on how to make crocheted or cake-based Moo Dengs at home. A zoo spokesperson said that ticket sales from the start of September to Wednesday reached almost
‘BARBAROUS ACTS’: The captain of the fishing vessel said that people in checkered clothes beat them with iron bars and that he fell unconscious for about an hour Ten Vietnamese fishers were violently robbed in the South China Sea, state media reported yesterday, with an official saying the attackers came from Chinese-flagged vessels. The men were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), which Taiwan claims, as do Vietnam, China, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. Vietnamese media did not identify the nationalities of the attackers, but Phung Ba Vuong, an official in central Quang Ngai province, told reporters: “They were Chinese, [the boats had] Chinese flags.” Four of the 10-man Vietnamese crew were rushed
CHINESE ICBM: The missile landed near the EEZ of French Polynesia, much to the surprise and concern of the president, who sent a letter of protest to Beijing Fijian President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere called for “respect for our region” and a stop to missile tests in the Pacific Ocean, after China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). In a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Katonivere recalled the Pacific Ocean’s history as a nuclear weapons testing ground, and noted Wednesday’s rare launch by China of an ICBM. “There was a unilateral test firing of a ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. We urge respect for our region and call for cessation of such action,” he said. The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched by the
As violence between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, Iran is walking a tightrope by supporting Hezbollah without being dragged into a full-blown conflict and playing into its enemy’s hands. With a focus on easing its isolation and reviving its battered economy, Iran is aware that war could complicate efforts to secure relief from crippling sanctions. Cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah, sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, has intensified, especially after last week’s sabotage on Hezbollah’s communications that killed 39 people. Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon followed, killing hundreds. Hezbollah retaliated with rocket barrages. Despite the surge in
RSS