By Prensa Latina
Colombo : Another 17 separatist rebels and one soldier died in recent clashes between the army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in northern Sri Lanka, the Defense Ministry informed on Saturday.
According to the report, the clashes took place in the northern districts of Vavuniya and Mannar, as part of the government-led offensive to retake control over the LTTE-dominated region.
For 25 years, the group has been fighting to establish an independent state in the north and east, where the majority of the Tamil population lives.
In the meantime, the navy reported it destroyed a Tamil stronghold Friday in the Peraru jungle, and seized a large number of arms and munitions.
The Colombo government intensified the armed offensive in the north, after it ended with the LTTE control in the east, and proposed a package of measures for the transfer of powers from the central authority to future regional administrations.