Sri Lanka claims ‘5000 LTTE deaths’
20/7/08
Sri Lanka’s army claims to have killed more than 5,000 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters in battles this year. The defence ministry said on Sunday that 5,036 deaths had occurred in ground and sea clashes. The army says it has lost 446 of its own soldiers, but continues to advance on LTTE strongholds in the north of the island. However, the figures are impossible to independently verify as the government refuses journalists and NGOs access to the main areas of fighting in the north. The figures would mean that 25 LTTE fighters have died every day in 2008.
See: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2008/07/ 2008720165317892447.html