950805

Military claims

heavy casualties

in raid on Tamils

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's military on Saturday claimed killing or wounding at least 50 Tamil guerrillas and losing five soldiers in a lightning attack on rebel positions in the north.

"Ground troops confirmed that about 50 terrorists were either killed or injured in the area of Chunnakam where the confrontation took place. We lost five of our men," a military spokesman said.

He said that 20 soldiers were also wounded when troops backed by air cover carried out a "short and swift" operation Friday against positions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the northern Jaffna peninsula.

Security forces had taken the "maximum possible precautions" to avoid civilian casualties during Friday's limited offensive in Chunnakam located in the LTTE-controlled Jaffna peninsula, the spokesman said.

The military assault came as President Chandrika Kumaratunga vowed to implement a peace plan for the embattled northeast while continuing the military campaign against the LTTE.-AFP