DATE=4/24/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=LANKA/ELEPHANT PASS (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261677
BYLINE=VANDANA CHOPRA
DATELINE=COLOMBO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Sri Lankan troops are preparing for another
wave of attacks following a weekend offensive in which
Tamil Tiger guerrillas captured the strategic Elephant
Pass, gateway to the country's northern Jaffna region.
Vandana Chopra has details from Colombo on the latest
fighting.
TEXT: Sri Lanka's army commander, Srilal Weerasooriya
says the withdrawal of government troops from the
Elephant Pass was made for the best strategic reasons:
/// WEERASOORIYA ACT ///
As far as we are concerned, our main aim is to
look after Jaffna and there was no point losing
all our men at Elephant Pass. Better to have
them with us.
/// END ACT ///
Military officials say recapture of the strategic pass
is a top priority as government troops are consolidate
their new positions.
There were conflicting claims, however, over the
extent of the rebel gains in the Elephant Pass
fighting. In a statement from its London
headquarters, the Tiger rebels say they captured
several large artillery pieces and huge quantities of
weapons and ammunition in the fighting. For its part,
the army denied heavy losses of equipment, saying it
lost just one artillery piece to the revels and that
withdrawing soldiers destroyed four more with
explosive charges.
The army commander also denied the rebel claim that
more than one-thousand soldiers were killed in weekend
fighting, acknowledging that 88 soldiers died.
Independent analysts say the capture of Elephant Pass
will give the rebels stronger bargaining power in
talks with the government.
The Tiger rebels have been fighting since 1983 for a
separate homeland for the minority Tamil community in
Sri Lanka's north and east. (SIGNED)
NEB/VC/JP
25-Apr-2000 02:31 AM EDT (25-Apr-2000 0631 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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