Sri Lankan gov't says 104 soldiers, policemen killed in February

The Sri Lankan government said Wednesday that some 104 soldiers and police officers were killed in February during the conflicts between government troops and the Tamil Tigers, but the government's military campaign has yielded results.

Nimal Siripala de Silva, health minister and the government's chief negotiator with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) told parliament that 822 soldiers and police personnel were also injured in February in the confrontations in the north.

De Silva added that 80 civilians were killed while 201 were injured in the conflicts.

He said the LTTE has faced a series of military reversals in the north and is facing setbacks internationally, while the government's military campaign against the rebels is yielding results.

Officials from the Media Center for National Security said 871 LTTE rebels were killed in February, in addition to about 500 rebels killed in January.

Sri Lanka's security forces are currently engaging the rebels in the Northern Province with heavy artillery and mortar duels being reported regularly.

Having taken over the control of the Eastern Province last July, government leaders now vow to crush the Tamil Tigers from their last Northern Province bastion.

The LTTE has been fighting the troops since the mid-1980s to carve out a separate homeland for the Tamil minority in the north and east, resulting in the death of more than 70,000 people.


Source: reliefweb.int