Sri Lanka Strikes at Rebels as They End Cease-Fire

Hours after a unilateral rebel cease-fire ended, Sri Lankan soldiers and air force jets launched an attack Wednesday on guerrilla positions on the northern Jaffna Peninsula, officials said.

The Sri Lankan military had ignored the 4-month-old cease-fire by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, although soldiers launched no major attacks while it was enforced by the rebels.

But early Wednesday, the military operation started in Eluthumadduval, 18 miles east of Jaffna, the historic city that was once the rebel capital and which the guerrillas have repeatedly tried to recapture, said Brig. Sanath Karunaratne.

Thirty-two soldiers were killed and 180 wounded, mostly by rebel artillery, mortars and land mines, he said. The rebels lost 75 fighters and 300 were wounded, said Karunaratne, citing rebel radio transmissions in the northern war zone. The rebels did not release information on the attack.

The soldiers were backed by air force fighter jets in an operation that will push south toward the strategic Elephant Pass, which is under rebel control, Karunaratne said. The military is currently about 18 miles from the pass.

The rebel truce ended at midnight Tuesday.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga was quoted by the state-run Daily News on Wednesday as saying that her government remained open to Norwegian-sponsored peace talks.

Norwegian peace envoy Erik Solheim has been shuttling between the two warring sides to nudge them toward the negotiating table. Norway has been involved in the process since 1999.

“The doors are open for talks with or without a truce,” said Ariya Rubasinghe, a government spokesman. “The government did not ask for a truce.”

The Tigers had renewed their truce three times, and demanded the government also halt fighting and lift a ban on the organization so that peace talks could begin. The government has said that the truce was a ruse and that the rebels were merely regrouping.