Renewed fighting in Sri LankaÂ’s embattled northern and eastern regions has left at least 30 people dead, according to defence ministry figures Friday. Security forces killed 19 Tamil Tiger rebels in two clashes Thursday in the eastern district of Batticaloa where four policemen also died, the ministry said. It said the guerrillas had also shot dead two civilians in the east on the same day and five Tiger guerrillas were shot dead in a confrontation in the northern Vavuniya district.The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said they lost only one combatants in the islandÂ’s east Thursday and accused the military of killing a student and wounding five others. No independent verification of casualty claims was possible amid ongoing clashes between the two sides.
Sri LankaÂ’s president on Friday asked foreign relief agencies to help supply food and other essentials to half a million civilians trapped in the embattled northern Jaffna peninsula.