Clashes in northern and eastern Sri Lanka since July have undermined the country's shaky cease-fire, and the violence continues unabated on the northern Jaffna Peninsula, the heartland of the Tamil minority in whose name the Tigers claim to fight.

Following intense fighting on Aug. 12 and 13, Sri Lanka government soldiers had recovered the bodies of 79 rebels out of more than 200 believed killed. He said 90 soldiers and sailors were also killed.

The Tigers had no immediate comment on the death toll, but each side routinely disputes figures offered by the other, and reliable casualty counts are nearly impossible to come by.

Aid workers estimate that around 100,000 people have been displaced in northern and eastern Sri Lanka since July by the fighting, the worst seen since a 2002 cease-fire.

The Japan Times Weekly: Aug. 19, 2006
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