26 tigers killed in fresh fighting in Lanka

26 tigers killed in fresh fighting in Lanka
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

COLOMBO, MAY 31: Twenty-six Tamil Tigers, including 11 women fighters, were killed in armed confrontations with the Sri Lankan security forces in the country's north and east even as the army claimed to have repulsed LTTE's Rocket-Propelled Grenade attacks at Chammani and Colombothurai near Jaffna town.

Government spokesman Arya Rubasinghe said the LTTE suffered heavily on Tuesday night when its cadres, including women, attacked a special task force commando camp in eastern Ampara district. The commandos were specially trained in anti-insurgency opertions.

The attack was effectively repulsed by the commandos inflicting heavy casualties on the rebels. According to monitored LTTE radio transmissions, 18 LTTE cadre, including 11 women, were killed in the attack and many others injured, he said.

Army also repulsed two LTTE attacks on forward defence lines of the army at Chammani and Colomboturai near Jaffna town. Seven rebels were killed in these attacks, an official release said. Two rebels were killed when an army patrol confronted a group of guerrillas near Colombothurai, in the northern outskirts of Jaffna town.

In another incident, troops attacked a rebel bunker and killed five rebels housed in it. Troops also killed another armed LTTE militant at Thaivupadu in northwest Mannar and recovered his weapons along with a Global Positioning System, the release said.

Reports said that a group of LTTE rebels attacked a co-operative food store at Mutur in eastern Trincomalee and looted all the food stuff stored there.