40 Government troops killed -LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 July 2000, 07:23 GMT]
Forty Sri Lanka Army soldiers were killed and over 200 injured when the Liberation Tigers counter attacked an offensive thrust by the Government troops in the Ariyalai-Columbuthurai sector of the Jaffna Municipality, yesterday, according to LTTE official sources in London. The Tigers recovered 8 bodies of soldiers killed in the battle.

Sri Lankan troops with the support of heavy artillery and aerial bombardment launched an offensive assault on the LTTE's defence positions at Ariyalai and Columbuthurai around 5.30 a.m. Monday morning, the LTTE sources said. The Tamil Tiger fighters put up a fierce resistance and repulsed the offensive, inflicting heavy casualties on the Government troops. Unable to sustain the intense counter-attack which lasted for more than six hours the Sri Lankan troops withdrew to their original positions, according to the sources.

LTTE's London office confirmed that 8 Tiger fighters were killed in the fighting.