At least 35 Sri Lankan troops were killed and over 200 injured when Tamil Tiger rebels resisted a major military offensive into their territory in northern Jaffna peninsula on Wednesday.

The fighting lasted about five hours and the government troops stalled the advance into the rebel-held part of the peninsula because the level of resistance was greater than they anticipated, the defence ministry said.

'Troops are consolidating their positions after fierce gun battles that lasted for over five hours. Intermittent fighting however still rages on,' it said.

'Ground troops confirmed that a large number of terrorist dead bodies were also found scattered around their forward defence lines,' the Ministry said.

There was no word from the Tigers about their casualties.

'Troops were compelled to launch those defensive measures as a result of the increased bout of LTTE violence against members of the Security Forces, disrupting the regular opening of the A-9 Highway,' it said.