COLOMBO, 12 April 2007 — At least 30 people were killed in fighting between Tamil Tiger rebels and Lankan troops late on Tuesday and yesterday.
The military killed at least 20 Tiger rebels after a mortar attack in the north of the island, an army spokesman said yesterday on the eve of traditional New Year festivities.
The Tigers denied any losses in the battle in Vavuniya district on Tuesday and instead said they had killed 10 government soldiers in a separate clash in the same region.
The fighting extended a rash of near daily battles between the government and the rebels, who are struggling to establish an independent state in the north and east of the country for ethnic minority Tamils.
“There was mortar fire to the forward defense line in (the north), which killed one soldier and wounded four,” said Lt. Col. Upali Rajapakse, a spokesman for the media center for national security.
“We have retaliated and their communications prove at least 20 killed.” The shelling led the military to close a checkpoint between government-controlled and rebel-held areas, and forced at least 41 people to flee, adding to the tens of thousands of people already displaced by the fighting.
“The Omantai entry and exit point is closed due to LTTE mortar fire,” said military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe, referring to the rebels by their official name Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
A spokesman for the media center for national security said 13 children, 16 women and 12 men fled to the government controlled area. “They say the LTTE is forcing them to move to several places and moving mortars to their villages, and they are scared to live there,” he said.
Tamil Tiger military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan denied any casualties and said the Tigers had killed some 10 government soldiers who had launched a small attack in the restive Vavuniya district.
“It must be within 10 and I’m not sure, but it’s not more than 10,” Ilanthiraiyan said, referring to the number of government soldiers’ bodies found. Samarasinghe, the military spokesman, said only two soldiers had been killed in the past few days.
The military and rebel claims could not be independently verified.
On Thursday and Friday, the majority Sinhalese and ethnic minority Tamils will both celebrate the New Year, and the government has warned the public to be vigilant for possible attempts by the Tamil Tigers to disrupt festivities.
The two-decade war has killed about 68,000 troops, rebels and civilians. More than 4,000 people have died in the past 15 months alone.
