More than 1,000 government troops are now believed to have died in fighting with Tamil separatists in Sri Lanka's troubled north-east in the last two days. A Sri Lankan military source in the capital, Colombo, last night admitted (on condition of anonymity) that government casualties were more than 1,000 dead and 1,500 injured.
Guerrillas from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have said hundreds of Sri Lankan troops have been killed and several hundred injured but have given no details of their own casualties.
Fighting yesterday continued to rage for a second day in an area which until the weekend had been firmly in government control. Oddusudan (175 miles north-east of Colombo) was captured from the Tigers last December. Its strategic importance for the government lay in its location close to the town of Mullaitivu, where the LTTE has its main base.
There were three army battalions in the Oddusudan region when the Tamil Tigers attacked late on Monday evening. The guerrillas are said to have used mortars and grenades to break through the army defences. Sri Lankan air force helicopter gunships were pressed into service to beat back the Tigers, army officials said.
The loss of Oddusudan will be a major setback for the Sri Lankan military. With presidential elections due next month, it will also be an embarrassment for the government, which was soon expected to take the military initiative in launching a major offensive against the Tamil Tigers.
After an outbreak of fighting last month, President Chandrika Kumaratunga ruled out peace talks with the Tamil Tigers. She now says she wants another term to end the fighting and find a political solution to the conflict.
During the past 16 years, an estimated 55,000 people are believed to have been killed. The Foreign Minister, Mr Lakshman Kadiragamar, a Tamil, last month ruled out any foreign mediation in the island's civil war.
The Tamil Tigers said they would hand over bodies of government soldiers to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Occasions where corpses are handed over to the ICRC have become propaganda shows on both sides.
Analysts say the return of soldiers' bodies from Oddusudan to their communities could be a key factor in the elections, to be held on December 21st, 11 months ahead of schedule. President Kumaratunga called for early polls amidst reports of bad times ahead for her - predicted by astrologers as well as economists.
The peace process in Sri Lanka has been effectively stalled since the killing of a moderate Tamil politician in July. There has recently been heavy fighting in the Wanni region of northern Sri Lanka with heavy casualties reported on both sides. Last month, more than 100 soldiers and Tigers died during fighting in the Kilinochi district.
The Tamil Tigers are fighting for a separate Tamil homeland in the north and east of Sri Lanka.