& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

LTTE pounds army posts with artillery fire
COLOMBO, May 17: Government forces were consolidating in an area captured from Tamil Tiger rebels in northern Srl Lanka with the latest offensive entering its fifth straight day Saturday, officials here said, reports AFP.
The guerillas of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam 4LTEE) pounded army positions with artillery fire blunting the military advance. officials said.
'The casualties on both sides are high because of long range artillery and mortar bomb attacks." a defence official here said. The air force is providing close support to ground troops."
A Defence Ministry spokesman said Saturday that troops of the latest offensive code-named "Sure Victory" continued to consolidate their positions in the newly-captured Omanthai town.
However, the clandestine Voice of Tigers radio said they lost only 26 fighters. Including two women and reported that
intense fighting was raging around Omanthai area for the fifth day.
The radio monitored in the northern town of Vavuniya from where the army offensive was launched on Tuesday said there was large scale destruction that rendered thousands homeless in the region.
Tamil sources in Vavuniya, 254 kilometres (158 miles) north of the capital Colombo, said they could hear intermittent shelling from army camps on rebel areas further to the north.
"The shelling started early in the morning," a resident said over the telephone. "It has been continuing virtually non-stop."
"It looks like the army is getting bogged down because of the heavy resistance." a Tamil politician in Vavuniya said adding that the military was probably ready for a drawn out offensive.
Tamil sources also said that at least 13 civilians had been
killed in the past four days.
Travellers from the region had earlier said that the LTTE had dug winding underground bunkers and deployed hundreds of guerillas, including women, to defend Omanthai and block the advancing army.
An estimated 20.000 troops are involved in the latest military offensive aimed at capturing a key highway to the northern peninsula of Jaffna through rebel-held territory.
On Thursday, the LTTE, which is campaigning for a homeland in the north and east of the country, said the latest fighting "could develop Into one of the most callous of all Sri Lankan assaults on the north east."
The military captured Jaffna town from the Li rE in December 1995. and since then had been ferrying supplies to the region from the mainland by air and sea because the only land route was under Tiger control.