Agence France-Presse
COLOMBO - Tamil Tiger rebels have overrun a military post inside Sri Lanka's most popular wildlife sanctuary, officials said Tuesday amid a surge in fighting ahead of the economically crucial tourist season.
The defense ministry said the latest round of fighting over a 24-hour period -- both in the wildlife park in the southeast and in separate clashes in the island's north -- had left 38 rebel fighters and government soldiers dead.
Military officials said Tiger guerrillas killed seven soldiers in an attack inside Yala National Park, an area known for its leopards, elephants and migratory birds.
Six of the soldiers died in an overnight attack on an army outpost, and the seventh trooper was killed and three more wounded in a mine attack as additional troops poured into the area, officials said.
"A pocket of isolated terrorists had attempted to overrun the army outpost," the defense ministry said in a statement. "Troops supported by reinforcements successfully managed to chase the terrorists away."
The clashes came a day before the authorities were due to open the Yala park after its annual six-week shutdown for the high tourist season, which runs till mid-January.
Western diplomats said they were worried about violence inside the sanctuary, particularly because many countries had just eased travel warnings for their nationals and suggested the island was a safe holiday destination.
"We are closely monitoring the situation," a Western diplomat said, adding that there were no tourists inside the park, situated in the southeast and far away from defined frontlines.
The pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website said Tiger fighters overran what they described as an army "mini-camp" and later torched its facilities.
"The camp was set ablaze when the Tiger commandos completed their mission," Tamilnet said. It also gave a list of small arms seized from the camp.
The guerrillas have carried out several attacks against security forces and wildlife employees, and three of the five zones of the 1,000-square-kilometer (386-square-mile) Yala park have remained shut for years due to Tiger attacks.
Elsewhere, at least 30 rebels were killed and many more wounded in clashes on Monday in the island's north, where a frontline divides government territory and a Tamil Tiger mini-state, the defense ministry said.
"Sri Lanka army soldiers launched several pre-emptive strikes immediately ahead of their forward defenses in Wanni and in Jaffna, killing over 30 terrorists," the ministry said in a statement.
In the northern skirmishes, one government soldier was also killed and seven were wounded, it said.
No independent confirmation of the claim was immediately available, and there was no comment from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The defense ministry also said Sri Lankan air force jets had destroyed a suspected Tiger logistic and military base in the rebel-held northern district of Mullaittivu on Monday.
However, Tamilnet.com said war planes had damaged several houses and injured five civilians including three children.
The Tamil Tigers have been fighting since 1972 for autonomy in the island's north and east in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands.
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