Colombo, Nov 24: Renewed fighting in Sri Lanka's embattled northern and eastern regions has left at least 30 people dead, according to defence ministry figures.
Security forces killed 19 Tamil Tiger rebels in two clashes on 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 combatant in the island's east on 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.
The LTTE and the Sri Lankan government have escalated fighting in the past year in tit-for-tat battles that have claimed over 3,400 lives despite a 2002 ceasefire agreement.
The bitter ethnic conflict has claimed at least 60,000 lives since it began in 1972.
Friday, November 24, 2006
Mosquito-borne fever hits Sri Lanka ; fear closes a school
Associated Press, Fri November 24, 2006 08:40 COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) _ Sri Lanka's health officials on Friday confirmed an outbreak of chikungunya, a mosquito-borne fever.
Blood samples sent to Thai and Indian research institutes and three local laboratories tested positive for chikungunya, the Health Ministry's epidemiologist Nihal Abeysinghe said, adding that at least 50 people have been found to be carrying the illness.
Chikungunya _ like dengue _ is spread by female aedes mosquitoes, and symptoms include high fever, severe joint pains, headache and vomiting. There is no known cure for either disease.
Eighty-one people were reported dead after contracting chikungunya in South India in the past month, but health experts say the disease only weakens the immune system, allowing people to succumb to other ailments.
While the government has asked people not to panic, the independent Daily Mirror newspaper reported on Friday that a school in northwestern Kalpitiya was closed after many students and teachers were found with high fever.
Sri Lanka's Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, meanwhile, asked public to prevent the spread of both the diseases by cleaning up areas where mosquitoes breed.
Mosquito-borne diseases usually spread with annual monsoons as the rains leave puddles of stagnant water for the insects to breed in.
``With the ongoing rains, such diseases could reach an epidemic proportion by next month unless drastic measures are taken to clean the environment,'' said Pradeep Kariyawasam, who heads the capital Colombo's health department
Blood samples sent to Thai and Indian research institutes and three local laboratories tested positive for chikungunya, the Health Ministry's epidemiologist Nihal Abeysinghe said, adding that at least 50 people have been found to be carrying the illness.
Chikungunya _ like dengue _ is spread by female aedes mosquitoes, and symptoms include high fever, severe joint pains, headache and vomiting. There is no known cure for either disease.
Eighty-one people were reported dead after contracting chikungunya in South India in the past month, but health experts say the disease only weakens the immune system, allowing people to succumb to other ailments.
While the government has asked people not to panic, the independent Daily Mirror newspaper reported on Friday that a school in northwestern Kalpitiya was closed after many students and teachers were found with high fever.
Sri Lanka's Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, meanwhile, asked public to prevent the spread of both the diseases by cleaning up areas where mosquitoes breed.
Mosquito-borne diseases usually spread with annual monsoons as the rains leave puddles of stagnant water for the insects to breed in.
``With the ongoing rains, such diseases could reach an epidemic proportion by next month unless drastic measures are taken to clean the environment,'' said Pradeep Kariyawasam, who heads the capital Colombo's health department
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