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Sri Lanka
Army claims high rebel casualties
Article published on the 2009-03-09 Latest update 2009-03-09 15:55 TU
A rack of guns surrendered to the Sri Lankan army by former rebels under "Colonel Karuna" who switched to the government, Batticoloa, 7th March 2009.
photo: Reuters
The Sri Lankan army claims that it has killed at least 250 Tamil Tiger rebels in fighting in the north-east of the country at the weekend. A few soldiers reportedly lost their lives in the combats. As the army presses on with its offensive against the rebels. There are contradictory reports about the fate of a boat carrying relief aid to assist tens of thousands of civilans who have reached a safe zone.
The Sri Lankan military said on Monday that its troops had killed at least 250 Tamil Tiger rebels during the weekend around the rebels' shrinking area of control in the north-east of the island.
Army spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, defending an area of less than 50 square kilometres, had launched a series of counter-attacks against advancing troops in the district of Mullaittivu.
"We killed over 150 Tigers on Sunday and that is the biggest loss for them in a single battle." Nanayakkara added that troops used special forces, artillery guns and aircraft to pound rebel strong points.
"Security forces also lost a few soldiers [...] and a few wounded," he said, without giving precise figures for government casualties.
The Sri Lankan government bars most journalists and aid workers from the north of the island, so the claims cannot be verified.
The government offensive against LTTE rebels, who have been leading a campaign for a separate Tamil state since 1972, began almost two years ago, and brought a unilateral end to a cease-fire reached in 2002. The government accused the LTTE of using the cease-fire to re-arm.
It's estimated that between 70,000 and 300,000 civilians are trapped by the fighting in the north-east of Sri Lanka, and official sources say 200 civilians crossed the front lines and sought shelter with government forces on Sunday. The defence ministry figures show that about 36,000 people have already sought shelter with security forces since January.
The army spokesman said the Tigers on Monday had fired at a ship carrying emergency supplies for the trapped civilians in a government-declared no-fire zone in Mullaittivu district.
Weapons handed over to the Sri Lankan army by TMVP, ex-LTTE members, in Batticaloa, March 7th, 2009.
Photo: Reuters
However, the foreign ministry said reports from local UN officials in the area indicated that there was no attack against the ship and unloading would go ahead depending on weather in the area.
Meanwhile, officials said about 2,000 former Tamil Tiger guerrillas joined Sri Lanka's ruling party on Monday, formalising a political alliance. The former rebels are followers of an erstwhile war-lord Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, aka "Colonel Karuna" who defected from the separatist Tamil Tigers in 2004. He then formed his own political party, Thamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) which won local elections in the east of the island in 2008.
The former rebels enrolled with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) at a ceremony at President Mahinda Rajapakse's residence.
Following his defection, Colonel Karuna, helped the Sri Lankan army drive Tigers out of the eastern district of Batticaloa.
