Sri Lankan troops killed 48 Tamil Tiger fighters in battles in the north of the island, the military said today.
Ten soldiers were killed and more than 30 wounded in the fighting that broke out yesterday in the northern Jaffna peninsula and the districts of Vavuniya, Polonnaruwa and Mannar, a military spokesman said
Fighting between the military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels has intensified since the government scrapped a six-year ceasefire pact last month. The government says the rebels had used the truce to re-arm.
The military says it has killed more than 1,100 rebels since January, and that 83 service personnel and 89 civilians have been killed in the same period.