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| Sri Lanka |
| Sri Lanka military says 27 Tamil rebels killed |
| 2007-10-19 |
| Sri Lanka’s military said Thursday that its troops killed 27 suspected Tamil Tigers in renewed clashes in the island’s north, although the rebels dismissed some incidents as attacks on civilians. The Sri Lankan navy fired early Thursday at a cluster of Tamil Tiger boats off the northwest coast. They recovered an abandoned rebel boat with four bodies and three survivors, the defence ministry said in a statement. A pro-rebel website, however, said the boat was carrying seven civilians who were fleeing Sri Lanka for India, and that at least at least three members of the same family were killed. Elsewhere in the north, the military claimed it killed 23 rebels in sporadic clashes across the embattled north and northeast over the past 24 hours. No independent confirmation of the claims was immediately available, and there was no comment from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Both sides are known to exaggerate casualty figures. ICRC pulls back: Firing across the northern frontline of Omanthai forced the International Red Cross (ICRC) to pull back its staff on Wednesday, ICRC spokesman Davide Vignati said. ICRC work along the frontlines to provide safe passage for civilians who want to cross between government-held areas and the Tamil Tiger’s northern mini-state. “The decision was taken after few security incidents yesterday (Wednesday) which has jeopardised the safety of our personnel. We will return after we secure a guarantee for the safety of our staff,” Vignati said. Meanwhile, the rebels also accused Sri Lanka warplanes of bombing a civilian settlement in a rebel-held area in the north on Wednesday, Tamilnet.com reported. “Eight bombs, dropped in two sorties, fell close to civilian settlements and exploded.... No one was hurt as the bombs missed the houses,” the website said. The defence ministry was not immediately available for comment. |
| Posted by:Fred |