Sri Lanka army 'kills 23 rebels'

The Sri Lankan army says it captured four Tamil Tiger bases and killed 23 rebels in clashes in the east of the island overnight.

The fighting took place in the district of Batticaloa, military spokesman Brig Prasad Samarasinghe said.

There has been no comment from the Tamil Tigers.

Some 4,000 people have been killed in escalating violence since late 2005, with tens of thousands of civilians being displaced.

'No confrontation'

"There are 23 confirmed LTTE (Tamil Tigers) dead," military spokesman Brig Samarasinghe told journalists in the capital, Colombo.

"We have captured four bases without confrontation."

The army's reported capture of the bases in Batticaloa comes hours after a deadly bomb attack on a civilian bus in Ampara district further south along the coast.

At least 16 people were killed in the attack. The army blamed the Tigers for the blast, the Tigers denied responsibility.

Concern

Eastern Sri Lanka has seen the heaviest fighting in recent months with the military making a number of advances into Tamil Tiger territory.

Human rights groups have expressed grave concern for the plight of displaced civilians and the United Nations has warned of impending food shortages for the homeless.

Both the Tigers and the military are, officially, still observing a 2002 ceasefire which has become meaningless in practice.

Violence began to increase after the 2005 election of President Mahinda Rajapakse.

The Tigers are fighting for a Tamil homeland in the north and east of the island.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6520829.stm

Armed Forces fighting back in North East

By Kurulu Kariyakarawana

At least 23 LTTE cadres were killed and several rebel camps were overrun by the security forces during a humanitarian mission launched to free Kokkadicholai West in Batticaloa while minor confrontations were reported and firearms recovered.

The mission that lasted a few days enabled government troops to capture the Wellaweli and Ampalanturai areas, about eight kilometres North West of Kokkadicholai in Batticaloa, the Media Centre for National Security reported. The LTTEs Nivartam Base and a 120mm mortar launching point too were captured by the troops during the mission. In a subsequent search operation launched two backhoe machines, an LTTE propaganda van; a haul of arms and ammunition as well as a store of paddy was recovered.

On Monday terrorists launched attacks from the North of Unachchi and South of Rukam, forcing the army to retaliate, causing heavy losses to the terrorists. No loss of life was reported by government forces. The fighting had continued till yesterday morning. The troops had retaliated killing 23 terrorists. Security forces have found bodies of 10 terrorists. The rebels had fled carrying dead bodies and the injured, MCNS further reported.

STF also participated in this operation and the search operation is in progress.

Meanwhile in Ampara the police Special Task Force personnel gunned down two members of a LTTE pistol gang in retaliation for the killing of an STF Sergeant yesterday afternoon. The armed cadres riding on a motorcycle had shot an STF Sergeant, who was on duty in Kalmunai town, around 3.20pm yesterday. The STF had hunted down the fleeing cadres and gunned them down while recovering the lethal weapon used for the shooting.

The Sergeant had been admitted to Kalmunai hospital but had succumbed to his injuries. Two more rebel cadres had been gunned down by the security forces in a confrontation reported in Vavuniya on Monday evening. Tiger terrorists had launched a small arms attack targeting an army foot patrol in Pudukulam area around 7.40pm. The army had retaliated and had found two bodies of LTTE cadres, two T-56 assault riffles, a GPS unit, a radio set, nine detonators, five magazines, 125 T-56 ammunition, two pouches, seven metres of detonation cord, seven rifle slings, two cyanide capsules and five pen torches at the scene of the attack.

Meanwhile the troops had discovered rebel camps in Trincomalee and Batticaloa on civilian information. In Palampatar area in Trincomalee the forces found 210 mortar bombs of 60mm calibre, seven RPG ammunition, 2000 MPMG ammunition packed in four crates, 173 fuses of 16mm calibre mortar, 180 cartridges of 60mm calibre and five 40mm RPG chargers. In Kadiraweli area in Batticaloa troops had recovered two claymore mines (one weighing 18kg and the other 12kg), six radio sets, a rod antenna and 42 dog tags.

http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/04/04/news/08.asp