Colombo:
Sri Lankan troops fought off an attack early on Friday from ethnic Tamil rebels trying to recapture lost territory, as violence in the northern battle zone killed 46 rebels and three soldiers, the military said.
The Tamil Tigers' pre-dawn attack came hours after government forces captured a section of rebel-held territory near a key supply route in the Mullaitivu district, about three kilometres south of the village of Mallavi, said military spokesman Brig Udaya Nanayakkara.
",They came to attack, and we surrounded them and attacked (back),", he said in describing the second battle over the territory.
Troops killed 33 rebels in the fighting, recovering all of their bodies, and were searching the area for more rebel fighters, he said.
Meanwhile, battles in other parts of the war zone yesterday killed 13 rebels and three soldiers, he said.
Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan was not immediately available for comment. Both sides routinely exaggerate enemy death tolls while underreporting their own.
It was not possible to independently verify the military reports because the government has barred most journalists from the northern jungles where much of the fighting takes place.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Tigers accused an undercover military unit of setting off a roadside bomb inside rebel-held territory that killed a development official as he rode past on a motorbike, according to a Web site run by the rebels' peace secretariat.
The rebels have routinely accused the government of sending so-called deep penetration units into their stronghold to carry out guerrilla attacks.
The Tamil Tigers' pre-dawn attack came hours after government forces captured a section of rebel-held territory near a key supply route in the Mullaitivu district, about three kilometres south of the village of Mallavi, said military spokesman Brig Udaya Nanayakkara.
",They came to attack, and we surrounded them and attacked (back),", he said in describing the second battle over the territory.
Troops killed 33 rebels in the fighting, recovering all of their bodies, and were searching the area for more rebel fighters, he said.
Meanwhile, battles in other parts of the war zone yesterday killed 13 rebels and three soldiers, he said.
Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan was not immediately available for comment. Both sides routinely exaggerate enemy death tolls while underreporting their own.
It was not possible to independently verify the military reports because the government has barred most journalists from the northern jungles where much of the fighting takes place.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Tigers accused an undercover military unit of setting off a roadside bomb inside rebel-held territory that killed a development official as he rode past on a motorbike, according to a Web site run by the rebels' peace secretariat.
The rebels have routinely accused the government of sending so-called deep penetration units into their stronghold to carry out guerrilla attacks.
