Sri Lanka launches deadly attack

A new wave of attacks by Sri Lankan forces has left 24 Tamil Tiger rebels and two soldiers dead, officials say.

A new wave of attacks by Sri Lankan forces has left 24 Tamil Tiger rebels and two soldiers dead, according to government reports. The worst of yesterday's clashes took place in Vavuniya district, where 10 rebels were killed, the military said in a statement. Another 14 rebels were killed in fighting on the front lines in Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and Welioya, while two soldiers were killed by rebel mortar fire in Jaffna district, the statement said. The attacks come after Sri Lanka announced on Wednesday its intentions to attack the north of the island and capture Kilinochchi, the political capital of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Both sides reportedly routinely exaggerate enemy casualties and under-report their own. Independent verification of the fighting is not possible because most journalists are barred from the war zone. Also yesterday, soldiers captured Tunukkai, a key northern rebel-held town, as part of their campaign to dismantle the rebel's de facto state. Tamil Tigers have fought the government since 1983 in a bid to create an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils, who have faced marginalisation by successive governments controlled by majority ethnic Sinhalese. * AP