Intense fighting in northern Sri Lanka on Tuesday left at least 25 government troops and 120 Tamil Tigers dead in the ongoing battle for the rebels' political capital, a military spokesman said. Security forces carried out simultaneous attacks against Tamil Tiger strong points near the town of Kilinochchi and also on the Jaffna peninsula, military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said. In a rare statement announcing casualty figures, he said that another 160 government soldiers and an estimated 250 rebels were wounded. The defence ministry decided in October not to reveal daily casualty figures, saying they would affect military operations. Nanayakkara said troops were consolidating positions they had captured from the Tigers, who have offered stiff resistance to government forces advancing on Kilinochchi, 330 kilometres (210 miles) north of Colombo.