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22 Sri Lankan soldiers die in battle

B. Muralidhar Reddy

Intensified fighting caused by LTTE provocations, says Colombo

COLOMBO: At least 22 soldiers of the Sri Lankan Army were killed and 113 wounded on Wednesday in heavy fighting with the Liberations Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at the Forward Defence Lines at Muhamalai even as Norway made a formal announcement about the proposed talks between the two sides on October 28 and 29.

The LTTE claimed that its cadres counted 75 bodies of army personnel and that 10 of its own fighters had died. The Tigers said three tanks of the army were damaged and one destroyed.

"The number of soldiers killed is higher but we are not updating the casualty figure at the moment. The military has suffered high casualties because it did not anticipate such resistance from the Tigers", a senior military officer told The Hindu . The heavy fighting, which Colombo insists is in response to provocations from the LTTE, has cast a shadow, if not on the proposed talks, but certainly on their outcome. Retaliation

Explaining the latest showdown, the military said the security forces were forced to retaliate to the sporadic attacks launched by the Tigers since Tuesday using heavy artillery and rocket-propelled grenades.

In a brief statement on the flare-up, the LTTE said, "From 6 a.m., the Sri Lankan military is attempting to move forward into the LTTE area along the northern frontline at Muhamalai, Kilali and Nagarkovil. Intense clashes are going on at this moment.

"The attacks come hot on the heels of repeated warnings by LTTE political head, S. P. Tamilchelvan, to the Norwegian facilitators and the international community to ensure that such large scale attacks are halted in view of the proposed direct talks".

The military claimed that a large number of Tigers were lying dead ahead of the present Defence Lines.

LTTE military spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan told TamilNet that the offensive, "shattering peace hopes", came a few hours after an official announcement by Norway that the two parties had agreed to meet in Switzerland on October 28 and 29.

Separately, the Government has confirmed to Norway, the official facilitator of the peace talks, that it is agreeable to meeting the LTTE for talks on October 28 and 29. The secretary general of the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process, Palitha Kohona, at a meeting with the Norwegian ambassador, said the exact location of the talks in Switzerland would be determined later.

Harassing actions

An official statement said, at the meeting Dr. Kohona highlighted the "continuing harassing actions", including artillery fire, being undertaken by the LTTE. In a related development, Norway in a statement, said Sri Lanka and the LTTE have agreed to meet in Switzerland on October 28 and 29.

"I am very grateful for the Swiss Government's strong support for the peace process in Sri Lanka and its willingness once again to arrange a meeting between the parties," the Norwegian Minister for International Development, Erik Solheim, said.

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