The Associated Press
Friday, Nov. 5, 1999; 10:34 a.m. EST

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka –– Army helicopters and buses raced hundreds of Sri Lankan soldiers to the northern front lines, a senior officer said today, as the military struggled to hold off a major rebel offensive.

In the military's worst defeat this year, Tamil Tiger separatists captured a broad stretch of territory in the northern jungles in fighting that began Tuesday. The army has abandoned post after post, and hundreds of soldiers have been killed or gone missing in surrounding jungles.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga said she planned to start talks with the rebels "as soon as it is practically possible to do so." Government officials said her statement was not prompted by the latest army losses, and was part of efforts to end this island nation's 16-year civil war.

The government has played down its losses, and today lowered the number of soldiers killed to 89 from 107 earlier.

Rebel forces said more than 1,000 government troops were killed, and said there were "hundreds of decomposed bodies of Sri Lankan soldiers scattered all over the jungle areas," in a statement released Thursday from their London office. About 60 rebels were killed, they said.

There was no independent confirmation of the latest claims as journalists are not allowed near the war zone except on army-led tours.

The army had no plans to counterattack, only hoping to cling to a tenuous defense line. More than 2,000 soldiers were sent to reinforce positions north of Vavuniya, 130 miles north of the capital, Colombo, the senior officer said on condition of anonymity.

But setbacks keep coming. Rebels overran the army camp at Olumadu, 155 miles north of Colombo, and troops prepared to withdraw from the nearby town of Mankulam, a senior naval officer said on condition of anonymity.

Soldiers who went missing during fighting in the dense northern jungles began trickling back to bases today, another top naval officer said. Dozens of navy troops – serving as ground forces because the army is spread so thin – found their way back to camps south of the front line, he said on condition of anonymity.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels have been fighting for an independent state for minority Tamils since 1983, saying they face discrimination from the Sinhalese majority. More than 58,000 have been killed.

The rebels control large swaths of land in the north and east of the island nation off India's southern tip. The towns seized by the rebels this week have changed hands several times in the last two years.

Peace talks with the rebels were last held in 1995. The president's call for new discussions came in a letter to the main opposition leader released Friday. But officials said it was written before the latest, violence broke out.