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'Casualties' in Sri Lanka clashes | 'Casualties' in Sri Lanka clashes |
(about 7 hours later) | |
Clashes between troops and Tamil rebels have continued in northern Sri Lanka after fighting at the weekend which the two sides said claimed dozens of lives. | |
The rebels say they killed at least 30 soldiers in the north, while the army said it had killed more than 50 rebels. | |
Neither claim could be independently verified. Meanwhile, the Red Cross has urged the authorities to investigate the killing of two of its staff. | |
Despite a truce on paper, Sri Lanka has been sliding back towards civil war. | |
More than 4,000 people have been killed in violence in the past 15 months. | |
Envoy due | |
A rebel spokesman said they taken government-held positions between Vavuniya and Mannar over the weekend, killing at least 30 soldiers and capturing military vehicles and long-range weapons. | |
The Sri Lankan government said it had repulsed a drive by the rebels and killed more than 50 of them. | The Sri Lankan government said it had repulsed a drive by the rebels and killed more than 50 of them. |
The fighting came ahead of the arrival in the region on Tuesday of Japan's special peace envoy, Yasushi Akashi. | The fighting came ahead of the arrival in the region on Tuesday of Japan's special peace envoy, Yasushi Akashi. |
Earlier, two ethnic Tamil Red Cross volunteers were abducted and killed by gunmen claiming to be police. Their bodies were found in the central town of Ratnapura. |
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