Rebel Casualties Reported at 500

Sri Lankan forces have killed or wounded more than 500 separatist Tamil guerrillas in three days of an offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s northern stronghold on the Indian Ocean island, military officials said. The military has been targeting the stronghold since the rebels, seeking an independent homeland for minority Tamils, overran a northeastern military camp in July, killing or capturing most of its garrison of 1,400 men. It was the military’s worst setback in the 13-year war in which the government says more than 50,000 people have died.