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COLOMBO-Battles between Sri Lanka's military and separatist Tamil Tiger guerrillas killed at least 57 people when the rebels counterattacked against an army thrust into their strongholds, the military said on Wednesday.The pro-rebel website www.tamilnet.com quoted the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eeelam (LTTE) as saying they had killed 75 soldiers and wounded 100 at two locations on the northern front.The military is pushing towards the de facto rebel capital of Kilinochchi, 330 km (205 miles) north of the capital Colombo, and has put its troops on the doorstep of the rebel heartland in the Indian Ocean island nation's north.On Tuesday, the military said it had seized Mallavi, a town the rebels were using as a supply base, and then captured rebel defence lines a few kilometers north on the road to Kilinochchi "after a fierce battle"."The terrorists launched a counterattack to regain the lost bunker line," the government said. Ten rebels were killed and 13 were wounded. It said 31 soldiers were also wounded.The rebels said they had killed 30 soldiers and wounded more than 50 in the fighting, www.tamilnet.com reported."The LTTE fighters, engaged in fortifying different defence lines in the area, confronted (army) units that simultaneously attempted to advance," it said.It also quoted the rebels as saying they had killed at least 45 soldiers and wounded more than 51 during a battle that stretched from Monday into Tuesday near the port town of Nachikudah, 20 km (12 miles) west of Mallavi.To read more go to:
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