Sri Lanka says weekend death toll 79, most rebels
(Adds air raids)
By Ranga Sirilal
COLOMBO, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's air force bombed Tamil Tiger positions in the far north on Monday and government troops killed 36 rebels in the north on Sunday, the military said.
Including the 36, the death toll from fighting at the weekend reached 79, most of them rebels, according to military figures.
The weekend clashes were on the Jaffna peninsula, the northern districts of Vavuniya and Polonnaruwa and the northwestern district of Mannar, and killed a total of 75 rebels and four soldiers, the military said.
A pro-Tiger Web site said 15 government soldiers were killed in the Mannar fighting.
The military said the Tamil Tiger rebels had fired artillery from the rebel-held area on Monday morning toward the army-controlled northern Jaffna peninsula, separated by rebel territory from the rest of the country, but there were no reports of casualties or property damage. "There was firing from the ground. To neutralise the fire the air force fighter jets bombed the LTTE artillery gun position in Pooneryn this morning," said air force spokesman Wing Commander Andrew Wijesuriya.
Pilots confirmed the raid was successful, he said.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who seek to carve out an independent state in north and east Sri Lanka, were not immediately available for comment.
Pro-rebel Web site www.tamilnet.com said the fighting in Mannar on Sunday killed 15 Sri Lankan soldiers and wounded more than 30. The Web site gave no details of rebel casualties.
The military denied the claim.
There were no independent accounts of how many people had been killed or what had happened. Analysts say both sides tend to overstate enemy losses and play down their own.
The government has vowed to wipe out the Tigers militarily, setting the stage for what many fear would be a bloody battle for the north.
While the government has had the upper hand in recent months, killing senior rebel figures including the Tigers' political wing leader and military intelligence chief, military analysts say the rebels have retained their strike capability and see no clear winner on the horizon.
The Sri Lankan government scrapped the 2002 truce on January 16, saying the rebels had used it to regroup and re-arm.
Nordic truce monitors, however, accused both the LTTE and the Sri Lankan army of violating the truce.
About 70,000 people have been killed since the war erupted in 1983. (Editing by Jerry Norton)
