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Lankan fighting leaves 421 dead: report

COLOMBO: The latest round of fighting between government troops and Tamil Tiger guerrillas has left at least 421 combatants on both sides killed, a report here said.

The security forces suffered 121 soldiers killed and another 61 missing with 854 wounded since fighting erupted two weeks ago in the northern peninsula of Jaffna, the Sunday Times said.

Its report, cleared by a government censor, said the military estimated that troops had killed about 300 members of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The report said the guerrillas, however, had admitted losing only 141 of their ranks.

Local media reports on the separatist war is subject to censorship.

The Sunday Times said the military losses were even greater if the figures were collated from December 11 when the Tigers mounted a major offensive but failed to overrun the military base of Elephant Pass.

A total of 176 soldiers have died since December 11 while another 144 are still reported missing in action, the Sunday Times said adding 4,254 soldiers had been wounded in fighting since then.

However, the corresponding casualty figures for Tiger rebels were not available, the paper said.ÑAFP