61 killed in intense Sri Lanka clashes

At least 58 Tamil Tigers and a security personnel were killed in fierce clashes in the embattled northern Sri Lanka as Air Force jets pounded and destroyed an LTTE secret meeting place in the rebel stronghold of Mullaittiuvu, officials here said on Wednesday.

Bullet-ridden bodies of two civilians were found in North-central part of the country.

At least 13 LTTE militants were killed on Wednesday in intense fighting between rebels and security forces at Kalliadanchan, about 1.5 kms North of Giant's Tank northern bund in Mannar front, the Defence Ministry said.

Air Force fighter jets targeted a secret meeting place of LTTE kingpins located in the West of Visuamadu Kulam in Mullaittiuvu in the morning.

According to Air Force Spokesperson Wing Commander Andrew Wijesooriya, the fighter pilots have confirmed the target was accurately hit.

A soldier also lost his life and 12 others injured in the confrontations, the ministry said.

In deadly clashes with the army, at least 18 LTTE cadres were killed in Padeirkulam area in Vavuniya on Tuesday in two separate incidents, the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said.

While six LTTE militants were killed in Nagarkovil in Jaffna on Tuesday, five rebels were shot dead in Marathamadu in Vavuniya, the MCNS said.

As many as 12 LTTE cadres were gunned down in sulaina Marthamadu in Vavuniya on Tuesday in intense clashes with the army, the Defence Ministry said.

In a separate incident, three militants were gunned down in a confrontation in Andekulam in North-east Welioya on Tuesday, it said.

One Tamil Tiger was killed in Andankulam in North-western Mannar on Tuesday, the army said.

Meanwhile, two bullet riddled bodies of civilians were found at Galayaya in general area Nochchiyagama on Wednesday afternoon in Anuradhapura district in North-central province.

Motive for the killing and the identity of the assailants are yet to be known, Nochchiyagama police said adding an investigation has been launched into the incident.

Source: Hindu

Lanka says no move to postpone Provincial Council polls

Sri Lanka has denied any move to postpone the Eastern Provincial Council elections scheduled for May 10, which are being held after a gap of 16 years.

"We deny there is any such moves to postpone the polls for the Provincial Council in the East. As of now there is no such thinking and the polls will go ahead on schedule," a government spokesman and senior minister Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters on Monday.

Rambukwella charged the former minister and Leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, Rauff Hakim with giving false information in this regard.

He dismissed it as an allegation based on false information given by certain groups that accuse the government of not wanting to conduct the Eastern elections in a peaceful manner.

He said the Elections Commissioner had made preparations to conduct a free and fair election in the Eastern Province like the one held for the local body polls in Batticaloa recently.

The spokesman assured that there was no need to worry about the security situation during the time of polls and that additional forces including police had been stationed in the East to meet any unforeseen incidents.

Source: Hindu

Prabhakaran met suicide squad before Lankan vessel was sunk

LTTE chief V Prabhakaran met his "elite" Black Sea Tigers suicide squad before they detonated an explosion on a Sri Lankan Navy Fast Attack Craft that killed 10 sailors late last month.

"The 10 sailors who had gone missing since March 22 are now presumed dead," a defence ministry official said.

Meanwhile, pro-LTTE website Tamilnet has said that the members of the suicide squad had a meeting with Prabhakaran and were photographed with him prior to undertaking their operations. The website identified three men as "Lt Anbumaran, Major Niranjan and Major Kananeela".

The Sri Lankan Navy on March 22 had announced that one of its Fast Attack Craft was caught "in a possible underwater blast". The locally built P438 deployed in northeastern coastal waters off Nayaru near the rebel stronghold of Mullaithivu has sunk due to the explosion, the Navy said.

It said that on receiving the SOS message from the sinking craft, other sea units launched a rescue mission and six of the 16 crew members were rescued.

An underwater blast damaged the boat's hull and caused it to sink in short duration of time, it said.

The navy asserted that there was no sea confrontation nor was any LTTE craft was present in the area when the incident took place.

"Navy suspects the blast was caused by a possible sea mine or due to some underwater weapon developed by the terrorists," it had said.

The pro-Tiger TamilNet, quoting the LTTE, had said the LTTE's "elite" Black Sea Tigers, engaged in a confrontation with a fleet of the navy in the seas off Mullaiththeevu, attacked and sank a SLN Dvora Fast Attack Craft between Mullaithivu and Nayaru.

The website had quickly confirmed the death of three of LTTE sea tigers though did not mention it as a suicide attack at that time.

Source: Hindu

I committed 'three' mistakes as Lanka prez: Kumaratunga

Former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga said she has committed "three" mistakes during her nine-year reign, including dismissal of UNP-led government in 2004.

Kumaratunga said she realised that an alliance with the Marxist JVP party was a mistake she committed while at the helm of affairs in the country.

Similarly, she said, the UNP-led government of Ranil Wickremesinghe should not have been dismissed in 2004.

The 62-year-old former President said she would reveal the third mistake she committed sometime in the future.

In an interview to a Sinhala weekly, Kumaratunga said her party the Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) and the opposition United National Party should forge an alliance to resolve the 25-year-old Tamil ethnic conflict.

"I think the SLFP and UNP should come together and work out a common understanding to find a solution to resolve the conflict in the country," she said.

She also made it clear that neither she nor her sister Sumitra would enter active politics.

Their brother and former Foreign Minister Anura Bandaranaike died recently raising questions about the future representatives of the legendary Bandaranaike family in politics.

Fifty nine-year-old Anura, son of Prime Ministers S W R D Bandaranaike and Sirimavo Bandaranaike was at one time considered a forerunner for the country's top post.

Source: indiatimes.com

21 killed in Lanka clashes, LTTE runway damaged

Sri Lankan fighter jets today destroyed a 'runway' operated by the LTTE even as a series of clashes over the weekend left 20 Tamil Tigers and a soldier dead in the embattled northern region.

Military fighter jets twice attacked an LTTE 'runway' located 10-km west of rebel strong hold of Mullaitivu and the pilots confirmed the target was hit successfully, Air Force spokesperson Wing Commander Andrew Wijesooriya said.

According to defence sources, ten people, including a soldier, were killed in clashes yesterday while eleven rebels were shot down a day earlier.

While three militants, including two female LTTE cadres, were gunned down in Veddayanmuripu area in Mannar, another three were killed in Vavuniya region yesterday.

Troops also killed one Tiger rebel in Periyawalayankaddu area in the region yesterday, the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said.

Another militant was killed in Veddayanmuripu area, it said, adding in a separate incident troops gunned down one militant in Mallikattidal area in Mannar, also yesterday.

One soldier lost his life in clashes in Madhu area in North-western Mannar, the Defence Ministry said. Sri Lankan fighter jets also "successfully" targeted Chilawathha Alampil area in a rebel stronghold in northern region yesterday noon, the MCNS said.

According to delayed reports, the security forces gunned down four LTTE tigers in the Madhu area on Saturday, the MCNS said, adding that seven militants were also killed in another confrontation in Madhu on the same day.

Source: outlookindia.com

Illegal travel to India lands Sri Lankans in trouble

Two Sri Lankans were arrested and another four including a woman detained for questioning Monday off the Rameshwaram coast in Tamil Nadu for trying to enter India illegally, police sources said here.

The two who were arrested were identified as Anton (40) and Valentine (29).

A police spokesman said that an Indian naval helicopter spotted them travelling in a high-speed boat ferrying a 30-year-old woman, Nakuleshwari, and her three children from Trincomalee in eastern Sri Lanka to India.

After surrendering to the Indian authorities, the family admitted paying Rs.50,000 to the boatmen, a police officer quoted officials as saying in the coastal town of Rameshwaram.

The family had come looking for their male breadwinner who had fled to India earlier, the police said.

The police said that the antecedents of the six people were being checked to discern whether they were linked to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

"On the basis of their statements, we will decide the future course of action," a police source said.

Source: newkerala.com

Sri Lanka offering overseas jobs to Tamil rebels

The Sri Lankan government said Monday it was contemplating offering overseas jobs to Tamil Tiger rebels who surrendered to the authorities.

Keheliya Rambukwella, defence spokesman and minister of foreign employment told reporters that he had discussed the issue with the International Organization for Migration.

He said some 47 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) members who had surrendered in the northern Jaffna peninsula were being rehabilitated in two centres.

Some 11 former LTTE members had already been released and gone on jobs overseas, said the spokesman.

Rambukwella said the government has put up posters offering financial help and foreign employment to the members of LTTE's suicide squad.

"This was an action taken purely on humanitarian grounds," Rambukwella said, adding that the government wanted to offer an alternative to the LTTE members in order to prevent destructive action by them.

Source: newkerala.com

Sri Lankan war jets bomb LTTE airstrip

Sri Lankan jets Monday carried out two air raids on a suspected fresh airstrip of the Tamil Tigers in their heartland in Mullaitivu in the island’s north, the military said. “Air Force Kfirs and Mig-27s bombed an LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) runway located 10 km west of Mullaitivu town at 9.45 a.m. and 10.30 a.m.,” said military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara.

“The pilots have confirmed that they … damaged it extensively,” he said, giving no further details.

Although the Sri Lankan jets have periodically bombed the LTTE airstrip at Iranaimadu in the rebel-held north, this is for the first time the air force has said it bombed a rebel airstrip in the Mullaitivu district.

The LTTE is known to be in possession of unspecified number of Czech-built Zlin Z-143 light wing aircraft and have carried out five air raids against Sri Lankan military and economic targets until October 2007.

There was no reaction from the LTTE regarding the latest air raid.

Meanwhile, Brig Nanayakkara claimed that at least 678 LTTE cadres and 73 government soldiers were killed while a large number of rebels and 316 soldiers were wounded in fighting in March.

He said despite the challenges posed by the unexpected torrential rains and resultant floods, government troops were continuing with their offensive aiming at pushing the Tigers further into the war zone.

Source: thaindian.com

Heavy Fighting Kills 71 Rebels In Sri Lanka

At least 71 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in fierce fighting with the government troops in the country's embattled northern region, officials said on Saturday.

A school used by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as a training camp in the region had also been captured, according to reports.

The rebels were killed in a series of separate fights.

As many as 30 rebels were killed in Pandivirichchan in North-west Mannar in fighting with troops on Friday, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported quoting the state-owned Rupavahini Television reports.

At least 10 Tamil Tigers rebels were killed on Friday when security personnel captured a land stretch of 700 meters in the Illanthevan area of Mannar after destroying two LTTE bunkers, officials said.

At least seven militants were killed in clashes with army in Kilaly and Muhamalai on Friday, according to the defense ministry.

In a separate incident, as many as three LTTE cadres were shot dead in Nagarkovil in Jaffna region on Friday, the ministry said.

There was no immediate comment from the LTTE, but a soldier died on Friday after accidentally touching a live electric fence along the northern defense line, the AFP reported quoting a pro-rebel website. The military did not comment.

Security forces have killed at least 2,418 rebels since the beginning of January, while only 147 government soldiers have died in action, the defense ministry confirmed.

The government casualty numbers and those given by the Tigers cannot be independently confirmed as Colombo bars journalists and rights groups from front line areas.

The rebels have been battling for an independent homeland since 1972 in an ethnic conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Source: AHN

26 killed in Sri Lanka battles: military

Twenty-six people, including two civilians have been killed in new fighting in civil war-wracked Sri Lanka, the military said.

A series of tit-for-tat clashes between security forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) across the island's north yesterday left at least 18 rebels and four soldiers dead, according to a military statement.

Also two civilian workers who were collecting sand from a river bed to make cement were killed when they came under rebel fire in Amapara in the island's east yesterday, the military said.

"Terrorist gunfire killed two of them (the civilians) but the third one survived with injuries," a military statement said. The ministry refers to the LTTE as terrorists.

There was no immediate comment from the LTTE and casualty claims by either side cannot be independently verified as journalists and rights workers are barred from the embattled areas.

Since the start of this year, at least 2,401 rebels and 147 soldiers have been killed in fighting, according to defence ministry figures.

Northern Sri Lanka has been the scene of heavy fighting between troops and Tamil rebels since the Government ejected the LTTE from its eastern stronghold last year.

Security forces have been trying to dismantle the Tigers' de facto state in the north, but the guerrillas have been putting up stiff resistance.

Tens of thousands of people have died since the LTTE launched their armed struggle in 1972 to carve out a separate homeland for minority Tamils in the the majority Sinhalese country.

Source: ABC