Colombo, April 23:

At least 52 guerrillas and 38 soldiers were killed and hundreds more wounded today, officials said, as Tamil separatists reported repulsing a Sri Lankan offensive ahead of key local elections.

The defence ministry said 84 soldiers were also wounded in the latest bid to take territory from the LTTE on the northern Jaffna.

However, a military source told AFP that the security force casualties were 40 dead and 375 wounded, while several more were missing. It was the military’s heaviest losses in a single battle since October 2006.

“Monitored radio communications and ground sources have confirmed that 52 LTTE terrorists

have been killed and many injured in the latest skirmishes in Jaffna,” the defence ministry said.

The Tigers did not give details of their casualties, but pro-rebel websites reported that they inflicted heavy losses on the security forces.

“The Sri Lankan army advanced on two fronts and the LTTE successfully thwarted their attack after 10-and-a-half hours of stiff resistance,” said the Tamil language Puthinam.com.

A Sri Lankan military source confirmed: “Troops mounted a two-pronged assault on the forward fence lines of the LTTE under the cover of darkness.” He said initially resistance was limited and the LTTE’s first line of defence was captured, but the guerrillas then brought down artillery fire forcing a retreat.

Security forces have been trying to dismantle a de facto rebel mini-state in the north of the island after successfully driving the guerrillas out of the adjoining Eastern province in July last year.

The government is staging crucial provincial council polls in the east on May 10 and has been banking on further military success against the Tigers to boost their electoral fortunes.

Defence sources said today’s setback was a repeat of the October 2006 debacle when the security forces were pushed back by a major counter offensive of the Tigers, with 129 government soldiers killed and 515 wounded.

The latest setback came despite official claims that the separatists had been virtually wiped out.

At the start of the year, the military said there were only 3,000 Tiger rebels left. Official defence ministry figures show that 3,025 Tigers have been killed by security forces this year already.

During the same period, the military has lost 218 soldiers, according to the defence ministry.

Military analysts noted that security forces had underestimated the strength of the Tigers, who had concentrated their forces in their mini-state in the north after they were driven out from the multi-ethnic eastern province.

Troops have been using aircraft, helicopter gunships and multi-barrel rockets against the Tigers while the rebels deploy mainly artillery and mortars at the battle front.

However, the guerrillas have also occasionally used light aircraft to bomb military installations besides sending in suicide bombers.