A dramatic escalation in Sri Lanka's ethnic war last year left almost 4,000 dead, the military said yesterday, taking the estimated death toll from the 18-year conflict to 64,000.
"Between January and December last year the security forces lost 1,464 troops, including police and paramilitary forces, and the number of terrorists killed was 2,433," a military spokesman Brig Sanath Karunaratne said.
An estimated 60,000 people were killed in fighting up to the end of 1999.
The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said in November they had lost 16,333 guerrillas since they launched their campaign in 1983 for a separate Tamil state.
Military records showed nearly 9,000 troops, about a 10th of the army, were wounded during the year, but Brig Karunaratne said about 40 per cent sustained only minor injuries and were able to return to the front.
"Even if you take the army's figures as gospel truth, the casualties are appalling for a year of stalemate," said a senior retired military officer.