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COLOMBO : Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers said Monday they have beaten back an offensive against their frontlines in the far north of the island, killing at least 20 government troops and wounding scores of others.
The pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had "thwarted another attempt" by the government to break rebel lines at Muhamalai on the Jaffna peninsula.
"Twenty Sri Lanka army soldiers were killed and at least 80 wounded in the fighting," Tamilnet reported, without giving rebel casualties.
There was no immediate comment from the Sri Lankan military but the defence ministry said airforce fighter jets and helicopter gunships had stepped up aerial strikes in the area.
The rebel claims, which cannot be independently verified, come after the government said it was closing in on the rebel political capital of Kilinochchi after capturing another strategically important coastal area on Saturday.
Tens of thousands have died on both sides since the LTTE launched an armed struggle in 1972 to carve out a homeland for minority Tamils in the majority-Sinhalese nation.
- AFP/vm
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