DATE=12/11/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=LANKA/FIGHT (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-257066
BYLINE=VANDANA CHOPRA
DATELINE=COLOMBO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: At least 230 Tamil Tiger rebels have been
killed in an attack on a strategic military camp in
Northern Sri Lanka. Vandana Chopra has the details
from Colombo.
TEXT: Sri Lankan officials say Tiger separatists
struck at the government's forward defense lines
Saturday morning, hitting the military's Elephant Pass
camp with artillery and mortar fire.
But the defense ministry says ground troops - with
help from the air force and navy - pushed back the
rebel attempts to overrun the camp and also stopped
guerrillas who were trying to land near the base from
the sea.
The Elephant Pass military complex is considered
strategic because it controls the causeway that links
the mainland with the northern Jaffna peninsula.
Military officials say at least 41 government troops
were wounded in the attack, 11 of them seriously.
Tiger guerillas have stepped up their offensive
against military bases in recent weeks. /// Opt ///
Last month, the guerillas launched simultaneous
attacks on Pallamadu, Periyamadu, Palampiddy and Madu
and overran the military bases in these areas. ///
End Opt ///
In a matter of days, the government lost most of the
towns it had taken more than two years to capture and
faced its biggest military setback in the 16-year war.
There has been no reaction from Tamil Tiger rebels on
the latest round of fighting.
Independent confirmation of events is not possible
because journalists are not allowed in the war-torn
areas.
Meanwhile, security has been intensified in capital,
Colombo, because of presidential elections scheduled
December 21st.
Tiger guerillas have been fighting for a separate
homeland for the minority Tamil community in Sri
Lanka's north and east since 1983.
More than 55-thousand people have died in the ethnic
war that has strained both the government and economy.
(SIGNED)
NEB/VC/JP
11-Dec-1999 09:45 AM EDT (11-Dec-1999 1445 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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