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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) -- The Tamil Tigers say the Sri Lankan army has launched a major military offensive against rebel positions on the besieged northern Jaffna peninsula, triggering a fierce battle that has left two soldiers wounded.
"They have begun a large-scale operation along the northern defense line," rebels' military spokesman, Irasiah Ilanthirayan told The Associated Press Wednesday by telephone from the rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi.
He said the military started shelling rebel positions late Tuesday night and that ground troops had advanced across their front line early Wednesday.
"They are advancing from all around the defense line," Ilanthirayan said.
Earlier, military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said the rebels had started attacking army positions overnight, wounding two soldiers.
Since 1983, the rebels have been fighting for a separate homeland for 3.2 million predominantly Hindu Tamils. The Tamils say they have suffered decades of discrimination by the dominant 14 million Sinhalese, most of whom are Buddhist.
The conflict killed an estimated 65,000 people before a 2002 cease-fire. Since April, when fighting intensified again, hundreds of combatants and civilians have been killed and about 220,000 people displaced.
The Tamil Tigers were founded in 1976, and the group's tactics include suicide bombings against military and civilian targets.
The U.S. State Department designated the Tamil Tigers a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.
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