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Sri Lankan military secures areas captured from rebels in east
Associated Press,
Wed January 17, 2007 01:18 EST .
BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI - Associated Press Writer - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) The military began Wednesday to secure areas captured from Tamil Tiger rebels in the volatile east where fierce clashes for control of territory a day earlier left at least 16 dead, an official said. The military said it lost four soldiers and that 29 more were wounded during the battle for a stretch of rebel-held-land in eastern Batticaloa district Tuesday, while the rebels said 12 of their fighters were killed and seven wounded. ``This morning we have started securing areas we captured yesterday,'' said military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe, who declined to provide details due to the sensitivity of the situation. Samarasinghe said at least 30 insurgents were killed in Tuesday's fighting, but a pro-rebel Web site, quoting a rebel spokesman, said only 12 guerrillas died. TamilNet said 40 Sri Lankan soldiers were killed. Both sides routinely inflate the other's death toll and independent confirmation is virtually impossible. Also Tuesday evening, unidentified gunmen fatally shot six Tamils, including a woman, in northern Vavuniya town, investigating officer Kumara Sandanayake told The Associated Press by telephone from the area. ``The gunmen entered the home of these people and shot dead four of them on the spot,'' Sandanayake said. He said two others tried to flee, but the gunmen chased then shot them too. ``We don't know the motive and we also don't know who were the killers; we are investigating,'' he said. Vavuniya is the last government-held town before rebel-controlled territory in the north. The rebels have been fighting for more than 20 years for a separate homeland for the country's 3.1 million minority Tamils. Although both sides claim to be adhering to a Norwegian-brokered 2002 cease-fire, violence has escalated since late 2005, with more than 3,600 people killed last year alone. Associated Press Writer Dilip Ganguly contributed to the report.
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Published: Wed Jan 17 05:35:11 EST 2007
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