By DPA
Colombo : Heavy fighting erupted between government troops and Tamil rebels in northern Sri Lanka Wednesday, leaving at least 30 rebels and six government soldiers dead, military officials said.
Fierce fighting broke out in Muhamalai, 390 km north of the capital, after Tamil rebels made an attempt to breach the army’s forward defence lines, a military spokesman in Colombo said.
But Tamil rebels claimed they resisted a move by government troops trying to enter the rebel-controlled area, sparking off a battle in which the Sri Lankan military also suffered heavy casualties.
The government military spokesman said that 30 soldiers were injured in the confrontation and that troops had overrun rebel defence lines.
There was no independent confirmation of the clashes, which took place close to the former entry point that connects the northern Jaffna peninsula to the rest of the country.
The military controls the southern end of the peninsula and the rebels the areas further south. The two sides are divided by a no-man’s-land extending about two kilometers.
For the past 15 months the road passing through Muhamalai has remained closed due to sporadic clashes. As a result civilians living in the northern Jaffna peninsula have to use the limited air passage or use a circuitous sea route.