Heavy casualties in Kilinochchi?

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 September 1998, 09:48 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) remained tight lipped about the situation in Paranthan today while reports about heavy losses sustained by government troops continued to emanate from the north.

Sources in Vavuniya said this morning that a large ammunition depot in the Elephant Pass base had exploded yesterday and that the Liberation Tigers have not withdrawn from the Paranthan sector.

A non-commissioned officer of the SLA in Palai, the civilian centre closest to the base complex, said that more than hundred soldiers were wounded in the fighting.

Latest fighting broke out when the Liberation Tigers launched an assault on the Sri Lankan Army's largest base complex in Elephant Pass-Paranthan and Kilinochchi, in the early hours of Sunday.

Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in communiqué issued on Sunday that 19 SLA soldiers and 40 Tigers were killed in the fighting and the "troops are in full control of the situation".