Colombo to try to capture key highway<\/p>\n
COLOMBO (AP): Sri Lankan government troops were beefing up
\ntheir strength and preparing to wrest a key road junction from
\nTamil Tiger guerrillas on the main highway in northern Sri Lanka,
\nmilitary officials said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Air force jets bombed guerrilla defenses near Puliyankulam
\njunction early yesterday to prevent the rebels from digging
\ntrenches and sowing mines before the soldiers advance, said
\nmilitary officials on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n
Reporters are barred from the area of fighting, 235 kilometers
\nnorth of Colombo.<\/p>\n
The soldiers, backed by tanks, artillery and warplanes are
\ntrying to open a land route to Jaffna Peninsula, a former rebel
\nstronghold now in government hands but accessible only by sea and
\nair. They have so far captured a quarter of the 70-kilometer
\nhighway.<\/p>\n
At Puliyankulam, the highway meets a road leading to
\nMullaittivu, the largest rebel held town. A year ago, the rebels
\noverran the government garrison there, killing nearly all of its
\n1,400 troops.<\/p>\n
The rebels are fighting to establish a homeland for minority
\nTamils, who account for 18 percent of Sri Lanka's 18 million
\npeople.<\/p>\n
They claim they are discriminated against by the majority
\nSinhalese, who control the government and the military.<\/p>\n
There has been a lull in fighting since Wednesday, when two
\ncolumns of 10,000 soldiers each who were advancing toward
\nPuliyankulam from different directions, linked up 1.5 kilometers
\nsouth of the town.<\/p>\n
The link-up closed a gap in government lines through which the
\nguerrillas had staged three massive counter strikes to delay the
\nmilitary offensive which began three months ago.<\/p>\n
The last rebel attack, on Aug. 2, left 67 soldiers and 126
\nguerrillas dead, rebel and military officials said.<\/p>\n
Control of the highway is crucial in the 14-year-old war in
\nwhich more than 50,000 people have been killed.<\/p>\n
More than 500 soldiers and 1,200 rebels have been killed in
\nthe highway offensive, according to government figures.<\/p>",
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