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| Sri Lanka |
| Sri Lanka clash claims 23 lives |
| 2007-03-10 |
| At least 20 guerrillas and three anti-insurgency commandos were killed when the Sri Lanka military raided a rebel base in the eastern part of the country on Friday. The Tamil Tiger base located 130 miles east of the capital, Colombo, was believed to be a "threat to the main road" where suspected rebels often plant roadside bombs targeting the military, Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said. Meanwhile, the military announced it seized three Tamil Tiger bases and a smaller camp overnight in northeastern Trincomalee district. There were some 100 to 150 rebels in the bases. "They have suffered heavy casualties," Samarasinghe said without providing an exact figure. But troops clearing the areas saw bloodstains on the jungle path, suggesting the rebels suffered casualties, he said. Trincomalee has a strategic port and serves as a base for the Sri Lankan navy and a chief sea supply route to 40,000 Sri Lankan troops stationed in the Jaffna peninsula. The rebels indirectly acknowledged that the military had taken over the bases but suggested they were empty when the troops reached them. "We had hundreds of bases in that area. Many were closed years back, some were closed recently," rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan said, adding, "It is a matter of walking into vacated places." The military offensives coincided with reports that thousands of villagers were escaping from rebel-held areas in the east, fearing new fighting between the guerrillas and government troops. |
| Posted by:Fred |