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Navy sinks Tiger boats as 35 rebels killed in Sri Lanka
 The Sri Lankan navy sank two Tiger boats carrying 14 rebels on Saturday as ground troops killed at least 35 guerrillas just outside the newly demarcated "safety zone" for civilians, the military said.Sailors attacked the flotilla off the coast of Mullaittivu where the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are making a final stand against advancing government troops, a military official said. Two guerrilla boats were sunk and the navy believed that there were at least 14 Tigers on board, he said. The sea battle came after security forces captured a mud embankment built by the LTTE and moved deeper into the remaining territory held by the guerrillas amid stiff resistance, the Defence Ministry said. "In a subsequent search operation conducted in the area, troops have found 35 bodies of LTTE terrorists killed in fighting along with LTTE military hardware," the ministry said in a statement. It did not give military casualties, but the latest report came as the government reduced the size of the "safe zone" for civilians trapped by the fighting. The government estimates that up to 20,000 civilians are being held by the LTTE as human shields. The United Nations has said the number could be as high as 50,000. A military official said Tiger rebels had on Friday shot and killed a man who tried to escape. Another 12 civilians were wounded, but managed to reach a military post and receive medical attention, the official said. Military spokesman brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said the civilian safe zone was made smaller as fighting was raging on the outskirts. Shelling hospitals: Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch on Saturday accused Sri Lankan forces of repeatedly striking hospitals in the northern war zone with indiscriminate artillery and aerial attacks that have killed scores of people, a charge the military denied. The New York-based group claimed military commanders responsible for ordering or conducting such attacks "may be prosecuted for war crimes". Posted by: Fred 2009-05-10 |
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