Colombo - One of the senior most rebel members has died of an heart attack in northern Sri Lanka as government troops launched a counterattack on Tamil rebels in northern Sri Lanka, killing at least 12 rebels and losing three soldiers, military officials said Tuesday. The senior member known as "Brigadier" Balraj, 45 was the first "Commander" of the conventional fighting force of the rebel movement formed in 1991 and responsible for a series of conventional attacks on the military since then, the pro-rebel Tamilnet website said.
There was no independent confirmation as to how the death occurred, but the Tamilnet quoted the rebel headquarters in Kilinochchi, 320 kilometres north of the capital, saying the death occurred on Tuesday.
Balraj is considered to be the fifth most senior member of the movement and his loss would be another set back to the rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Meanwhile fighting was reported around the Palampiddi area, 330 kilometres north of the capital, on Monday. The military said the counterattack came after an assault by the rebels on a newly established army defence line in the area.
On Sunday at least 15 soldiers and more than 50 rebels were killed as troops advanced to capture the Palampiddi area.
But the pro-rebel Tamilnet website said the rebels thwarted a ground attack by the army, killing 26 soldiers. The rebels said that after the battle they found the bodies of six government soldiers.
The site said the army had used multi-barrel rocket launchers and mortar fire in the fighting that lasted for six hours.
The rebels claimed they captured some of the government military hardware, including two rocket-propelled grenades, six T-56 assault rifles, eight RPG shells and propellers and about 7,000 rounds of ammunition.
There was no independent verification of the casualty figures, and journalists are not allowed into the rebel-held areas in the north.
Government troops have been trying to recapture the Tamil rebel- held areas in the north, triggering heavy fighting during the past four months. More than 4,000 rebels, soldiers and civilians have been killed in the fighting.
