950826

50 Tigers killed

in Lankan fighting

COLOMBO: An estimated 50 Tamil Tiger rebels and eight commandos were killed in a fierce mortar and machinegun exchange in eastern Sri Lanka after 500 guerrillas attacked a commando post on Saturday, senior military sources said.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam launched a mortar bomb attack on the Special Task Force (STF) post at Ampilanturai, 12 miles (20 km) south of Batticaloa, but were repulsed with machinegun fire after three hours of fighting, the National News Agency quoted the sources as saying.

Army headquarters in Colombo said seven elite STF commandos had been killed and six wounded but did not say how many rebels had died. It said the police "successfully repulsed the attack causing heavy casualties".

The military sources said 25 bodies of Tiger guerrillas had been recovered and that police had monitored radio instructions to the Tigers to fall back and take their dead with them.

They estimated the total number of Tiger casualties at 50.

Two of the commandos who died were among reinforcements sent to repel the Tigers, the sources said.

Ampilanturai lies inland from Batticaloa Lagoon and is surrounded by flat farming land, mostly paddy. The STF are the only force guarding that side of the lagoon after the army was withdrawn to boost the war effort in the north.

Of the 800 sq miles (2,000 sq km) of the Batticaloa administrative district, 600 sq miles (1,500 sq km) are now under Tiger control, a resident told Reuters.

The attack was the second major loss suffered recently by the Tigers, who are fighting for an independent homeland in the north and east.

In July, they lost 400 fighters at northeastern Welioya when they launched a simultaneous attack on four military bases. The armed forces had been tipped off.

The armed forces have launched a major offensive against the Tigers in their northern stronghold, while the government has announced a plan to offer devolved powers to the Tamils to try to end the conflict.

Colombo's chief of police said on Saturday that two leading businessmen would soon be questioned in connection with the recent smashing of a Tamil Tiger guerrilla financing operation.

Deputy Inspector-General G.B. Kotakadeniya said the two were "very big" in the capital and known to the public. He did not elaborate.

Several people were in custody in connection with last week's swoop on a Colombo office, including the alleged funds manager for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The manager is said to have been moving 10 million rupees ($200,000) a month to fund the Tigers' war effort since January. However, Kotakadeniya added that "much, much more" had been sent to the north.

He said "the large majority" of Tamil businessmen in Sri Lanka and overseas were believed to have donated money to the Tigers.

"Whether it is voluntary or it is extortion is very difficult to answer as it is mandatory," he said, adding that the supply of money had been "completely stopped" for the time being.-Reuter