The World - News from Sept. 4, 1986
Heavy fighting erupted between Sri Lankan troops and Tamil separatist guerrillas in northwestern Sri Lanka after the rebels blew up a bridge from an island to the mainland, military sources and residents reported. Naval vessels surrounded Mannar Island while helicopter gunships pounded guerrilla positions and troops moved on the ground, residents in the town of Mannar said by telephone. The guerrillas of the Tamil minority, opposed to the majority Sinhalese population’s domination of Sri Lankan affairs, are fighting for a separate state.
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