Sri Lanka claims major victory

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- The Sri Lankan military, claiming more victories against the Tamil Tigers, said it breached the rebels' first defense line in the northern Jaffna peninsula.

The troops, despite heavy rebel resistance, overran the Tigers' first forward defense line Thursday in Muhamalai and Kilaly districts and inflicted heavy casualties on the rebels, ColomboPage quoted the defense ministry military as saying. The rebels are believed to have three more such defense lines.

The report, citing military sources, said the rebels had constructed an embankment in front of their frontline, connecting Jaffna peninsula to the mainland.

The Sri Lankan military, encouraged by its claims of victories, has been waging a relentless campaign for weeks to put down the rebellion by the rebels for a separate state on the island nation for the Tamil-speaking minority.

The ColomboPage quoted the rebels as saying they resisted and pushed back a military push, killing 36 soldiers and injuring another 90.

A BBC report said there is growing concern about hundreds of thousands of civilians who have been forced to leave their homes in the midst of the fierce fighting. The report said the civilians are trapped in the rebel territory which continues to shrink.

An Amnesty International report says the Sri Lankan government is not capable of providing the civilians even basis necessities such as shelters, sanitation and safe drinking water. The group also accused the rebels of not allowing civilians to move to safer places.