Soldiers capture a rebel bunker line as fighting kills 11

Sri Lankan soldiers pushed across the front lines and captured a line of strategic rebel bunkers after a battle Monday that killed 10 rebels and one soldier, the military said.

Backed by mortar and artillery fire, army troops captured a 600-meter-long line of bunkers in northern Mannar district following a two-hour battle that also injured four soldiers, said Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara, the military spokesman.

Though small, the stretch will be an advantage to the military's push to take rebel-held territories in Mannar district, Nanayakkara said.

Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan did not answer calls seeking comment.

It was not possible to independently verify the reports because of limited access to the northern jungles where the fighting took place. Both sides often inflate their opponents' casualty figures while minimizing their own.

Violence has escalated on the Indian Ocean island since the government withdrew last month from a 2002 cease-fire with the Tamil rebels.

The Tamil Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils, who have been marginalized for decades by Sinhalese-dominated governments. The fighting has killed more than 70,000 people.

Government troops last year drove the guerrillas from their eastern strongholds and in recent months fighting has raged around the rebels' de facto state in the north.

The 2002 truce fostered hopes for a lasting peace, but broke down as fighting over the past two years killed 5,000 people.

Nearly 1,500 people have been killed since the government announced its withdrawal from the cease-fire, according to the military.

Source: iht.com