11.   Navy gunboats destroyed two Tamil rebel boats and shelled their coastal bases in northern Sri Lanka in the first military offensive on Friday.

12.   Sri Lanka on Sunday launched its first major military offensive against Tamil guerrillas since a cease-fire ended in April, using its army, air force and navy.

13.   Sri Lanka launches its first major military offensive against Tamil guerrillas since a cease-fire ended in April.

14.   Sri Lanka on Sunday launched its first major military offensive against Tamil guerrillas since a cease-fire ended in April, the government said.

15.   The military attacked Tamil rebel positions on the Jaffna Peninsula on Sunday in its first major offensive since a cease-fire ended in April.

16.   The military attacks Tamil rebel positions Sunday in its first major offensive since a cease-fire ended in April.

17.   U.S. forces won a six-month battle against the Japanese, the first major offensive in the Pacific.

18.   But it was from Kandahar, the former Afghan royal capital, that their first offensive began in late summer last year.

19.   But within two months he was captured in the first offensive by the Taliban against the Northern Alliance in the Panjshir valley.

20.   The vanilla wealth of the northeast might explain why Ravalomanana launched his first major offensive there.