101.   It was the biggest slaughter of troops, drawn mainly from the Sinhalese majority community, by Tamil guerrillas up to then.

102.   Meanwhile police in Colombo said Friday that Tamil guerrillas had freed two police hostages who have been on an indefinite hunger strike.

103.   Navy gunboats opened fire on a Tamil guerrilla ship carrying a large quantity of explosives off northeastern Sri Lanka Wednesday and the vessel exploded, defence sources said.

104.   President Chandrika Kumaratunga has set up a council of war mostly comprised of retired security chiefs to assist a current military drive against Tamil guerrillas, officials said Saturday.

105.   Police and security forces went on red alert across Sri Lanka on Monday amid fears of Tamil guerrilla attacks timed to coincide with the Christmas holiday, officials said.

106.   Rebel Tamil guerrillas trapped in their former bastion of Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka committed suicide after a failed bid to attack security forces, the military said Saturday.

107.   Security forces Tuesday claimed heavy Tamil guerrilla casualties outside a strategic military base in northern Sri Lanka following a rebel pressure mine attack at a nearby naval facility.

108.   Several top Tamil guerrilla leaders in Sri Lanka are known to have been trained by the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

109.   Secretary of State Warren Christopher praised Sri Lanka on Thursday for making progress in human rights and for its efforts at making peace with Tamil guerrillas.

110.   Security forces have escalated their search and destroy missions against Tamil guerrillas in northeast Sri Lanka where arms caches have been discovered, the defence ministry said Monday.