Colombo– Heavy fighting between government troops and Tamil rebels raged for the third successive day in northern Sri Lanka on Monday as the military claimed they killed at least 120 rebels and lost 27 soldiers.

Military officials said fighting was continuing around the outskirts of Kilinochchi, a stronghold of the rebels located 370 kilometres north of the capital, as troops had surrounded the areas from three fronts.

The defence ministry quoted military officials from the battlefield saying 27 soldiers were killed and 70 others were injured on Sunday. The military put the rebel death toll at
120 and said 80 others, presumed to be noncombatants, also were killed.

There was no independent confirmation about the casualty figures given by the military.

Government troops on Sunday said they came under a massive counter-attack from the rebels, but were able to withstand the attack and were now consolidating their positions.

There was no immediate comment from the rebels about the fighting.

Troops have stepped up the attacks against rebels ahead of the rebel chief Velupillai Prabhakaran's 54th birthday on Wednesday. The rebel chief is due to make his annual speech which is considered a "policy statement," the day after his birthday.

Government troops have made significant gains in the northern part of the country by capturing rebel-held areas in military operations which have been launched since January.

Government forces have now confined the rebels to parts of two northern districts.

But in the process some 250,000 civilians have been displaced and are living in refugee camps, government buildings, temporary huts and some of them in open areas in rebel-held areas. The government has appealed to them to enter areas under the government control, but the response has been slow with only some 200 civilians responding to the call during the past week.

The military had vowed earlier that they would crush the rebels before the end of the year.

During the year the military has claimed killing some 9,000 rebels, but the rebels say they have lost about 1,900 cadres this year.

The military has lost about 2,000 soldiers this year in the operations. (dpa)