Lanka moves to lift Jaffna siege amid fighting

Overnight attacks by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on troops at Muhamali on the southern edge of the Jaffna district led to casualties on both sides, a military official said.

He said at least 10 soldiers had been killed and about 125 wounded in sporadic clashes along front lines in the past two days. The rebel offensive began nine days ago and is believed aimed at capturing Jaffna.

Tigers ran the peninsula as a de facto separate state for five years till they were driven out in 1995. They tried to recapture it in 2000 but were stopped after advancing one third of the way to Jaffna town, the cultural centre of the Tamils.

"The objective of the latest LTTE offensive is to recapture Jaffna," defence ministry spokesman Upali Rajapakse said. "We have successfully resisted their advance."

The military on Friday bombed what it called a Sea Tiger base used to manufacture attack craft. The LTTE in a statement Sunday said the air force had hit a civilian boatyard and wounded two people.

The defence ministry said a large number of guerrillas were killed on Saturday but did not give figures for the military.

"The security forces today found over 80 dead bodies lying ahead of the forward defence lines," it said in a statement. "The troops were in the process of collecting the dead bodies."

There was no immediate reaction from the rebels to the purported death toll, and no independent verification was available. Both sides are known to exaggerate casualty figures.

The fighting has cut the only land access to the peninsula and also prevented aircraft flying to Palaly airbase at the northern edge of the peninsula after the runway was hit by Tiger shells last week.

Supplies by ship were also hampered as the Tigers hit the northeast port of Trincomalee where Jaffna-bound cargoes originate.

Rajapakse said the authorities were arranging ships to travel from Colombo and take supplies to the peninsula for the 350,000 civilians and an estimated force of 40,000 troops.

The latest violence has left a February 2002 ceasefire in tatters.

The World Food Programme warned of worsening conditions on the peninsula, with shortages across the board and only eight days of fuel left to power generators keeping UN offices running.

The United Nations said Friday more than 41,000 people on the peninsula were believed to have fled their homes and warned that supplies in the area had reached "alarmingly low levels."

A curfew in Jaffna was eased over the weekend and residents attempted to stock up on provisions but long queues, high prices and hoarding were reported.

An unspecified number of foreign nationals were also trapped in Jaffna as private flights were halted with the outbreak of fighting.

Many foreigners of Sri Lankan origin visit relatives in Jaffna and aid agencies have expatriate staff in the region, including five with UN organisations, officials said.