COLOMBO, April 24: Despite the Tamil Tiger rebels Wednesday inflicting the heaviest losses on security forces in months, military and government officials on Thursday insisted that they would forge ahead with offensives aimed at annihilating the LTTE.

“We have re-taken the east last year and liberated the Tamil people from terrorism. We will free the North soon,” government defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told Dawn when contacted, referring to rebel controlled areas in the country.

Sri Lanka’s war with the Tamil Tigers reached its bloody peak on Wednesday with around 250 killed and hundreds more injured in the heaviest bout of fighting since the government formally annulled the ceasefire with the LTTE early January this year.

The Tamil Tigers displayed photographs of scores of dead bodies of government soldiers on pro rebel websites and said that large amount of weaponry was seized from the military. The English language pro rebel website Tamil Net on Thursday said around 150 soldiers had been killed in their attempt to advance into the northern guerrilla stronghold of Muhamalai. The rebels have officially acknowledged losing only 16 of their fighters. The Defence Ministry has admitted the deaths of 43 soldiers but has declared another 33 as missing in action.

“Forty-three soldiers made their supreme sacrifice while another 120 soldiers suffered injuries,” a defence ministry statement said, adding that “over 100 LTTE cadres have been killed and a large number had suffered injuries”.