COLOMBO. Nov 10: The Srl Lankan army said more than 90 Tamil Tiger guerillas and soldiers were killed when the armed forces re sumed their advance against the northern rebel strong hold of Jaffna Town today, reports Reuter

Twelve soldiers and one officer were killed and 77 wounded, the military said in a statement 'Seventy eight terrorists were confirmed killed and a minimum of 200 terrorists are estimated to have been injured,' it said

The LTTE is fighting foi a homeland called Eelam in Sri Dinkas northeast

AFP adds: Government troops today resumed a mas sive campaign in the Tamil rebel stronghold of Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka after a one-week break, military officials said

We started advancing at

first light, a military spokesman said here. "So far we have not heard anything further from the front " The spokesman gave no further details.

Sri Lankan forces launched a major offensive on October 17 tn a bld to wrest Jaffna from the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which has governed the sprawling peninsula like a de facto independent state since 1990.

The military captured the LTTE stronghold of Neerveli on October 30 and continued its drive for nearly three more days before calling a temporary halt, barely 4.5 kilometers ( three miles) from Jaffna town, amid heavy rains

Since then, military officials have been saying that the troops were consolidat Ing their positions for an

eventual push towards the Tigers bastion of Jaffna town.

The offensive resumeed a day after President Chandrika Kumaratunga announced she was cancelling her trip to the Commonwealth summit at Auckland, and instead asked Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar to represent Sri Lanka

Her office said late Thurs day that the president, who is commander in-chief of the armed forces, took the decision "due to the exigencies of the evolving situa'ion in Sri Lanka and the needed for her continuing presence '

The October 17 offensive, condemned Rivirasa ( Sunshine). triggered an unprecedented exodus of civilians from Jaffna, and Tamil sources say up to half a million people have become refugees.

The refugee crisis has

sparked international concern forcing the Sri Lankan government to step up relief for the tens of thousands of displaced civilians massing in Jaffna and the neighbouring district of Kilinchchi

Sri Lankan troops re sumed their march towards Jaffna town at first light to-d.u a senior military source iokl Reuters.

" How long it takes to get into Jaffna town depends on the resistance by the militant Liberation Tigers of Tami! Eelam, he said

The axis is towards Jaffna town so you can say we are heading for Jaffna.' he said

The northern Jaffna peninsula is being hit by mon soon rains but the weather has been clear for the last two days, the source said