Sri Lanka hands over rebel bodies

Fighting has escalated in recent months (Pic: Athula Bandara)

Hospital officials in the northern Sri Lankan town of Anuradhapura say they have handed over the bodies of 14 Tamil Tigers to the Red Cross.

They say the rebels were killed in recent fighting in the Welioya area east of the town.

Hospital officials say the Tigers have handed over the bodies of three Sri Lankan soldiers so far this month.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) passes on the corpses to both sides so that they can be buried.

Casualty claims

Last month, the government pulled out of a 2002 ceasefire with the Tamil Tigers, arguing the rebels had used it to re-group and re-arm.

Since then, fighting has intensified on the frontlines that surround Tiger-held territory in the north.

Correspondents say that it is almost impossible to get independent confirmation of the casualty claims made by both sides.

Each tends to exaggerate the number of enemy combatants killed while downplaying the number of dead or injured on their own side.

The army two soldiers and 14 rebels have been killed since Monday.

There was no comment from the rebels, who are leading a decades-old campaign for independence for minority Tamils in the majority Sinhalese nation of 19.5 million people.

Sri Lanka's army commander Lt-Gen Sarath Fonseka has said that he aims to defeat the rebels by the end of 2008.