World IN BRIEF : SRI LANKA : Troops, Rebels Fight for Control of Fort
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Government troops and Tamil rebels fought pitched battles in the northeast as the army tried to expand its control after breaking the rebel siege of a strategic garrison, military officials said in Colombo. They said 17 Tamil Tiger guerrillas and eight soldiers were killed in Thursday’s fighting near Chilawatte in the Mullaitivu district on the coast south of the Jaffna Peninsula, the northern end of this island nation. More than 200 policemen and soldiers had been trapped in Jaffna Fort for nearly three months.
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