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Sri Lanka fighting kills 10
Sri Lankan warplanes pounded Tamil Tiger targets in the far north of the island on Saturday, and nine rebels and a soldier were killed in a series of battles in the same region, the military said. The violence in the north, focus of renewed civil war between the state and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), is just the latest in a series of near-daily clashes over recent months. The army killed nine LTTE terrorists in four different confrontations in Vavuniya on Friday, said a spokesman at the Defence Ministrys Media Centre for National Security. He said one solders was killed. An air force spokesman said planes had attacked a Sea Tiger base northwest of Puthukkudiyiruppu in rebel-held Mullaitivu. After observing some movement in the area we took the target using (Israeli-made) Kfirs and (Russian-made) MiGs, said Group Captain Ajanth De Silva. It was a Sea Tiger training camp and the intelligence confirmed the target. We have no details of casualties or damage but the planes hit the target, he said. The Tigers, who say they are fighting for an independent state for minority ethnic Tamils in the north and east, were not immediately available for comment on the incident. There was no independent confirmation of how many people were killed in the fighting. Military analysts say both sides tend to exaggerate enemy losses and play down their own. The attacks come on the heels of a new military offensive launched this month to drive the rebels from the northwestern district of Mannar. Posted by: Fred 2007-09-30 |
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