Sri Lanka says 90 dead in assault on Tamil stronghold

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

COLOMBO (AFP) — At least 52 guerrillas and 38 soldiers were killed and hundreds more wounded Wednesday, officials said, as Tamil separatists reported repulsing a Sri Lankan offensive ahead of key local elections.

The defence ministry said 84 soldiers were also wounded in the latest bid to take territory from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the northern Jaffna peninsula.

However, a military source told AFP that the security force casualties were 40 dead and 375 wounded, while several more were missing.

It was the military's heaviest losses in a single battle since October 2006.

"Monitored radio communications and ground sources have confirmed that 52 LTTE terrorists have been killed and many injured in the latest skirmishes in Jaffna,"...