950829

15 Lankan policemen

killed by Tamil rebels

COLOMBO: At least 15 policemen were killed in Sri Lanka's eastern Trincomalee region on Tuesday by Tamil separatist guerrillas, a defence spokesman said.

He said nine of the policemen were killed in an ambush near the town of Nilaveli and the other six, wounded in the shootout, were blown up by a landmine on their way to a local hospital.

Defence officials said guerrillas of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) attacked the policemen in an effort to divert the army's attention from a widely expected offensive against rebel stronghold in the northern Jaffna Peninsula.

Separatist sources said the army was preparing a major ground offensive against the LTTE positions in Jaffna before the next rainy season, less than two months away.

The defence spokesman denied rebel charges that the army had started pounding suspected Tiger hideouts around Jaffna as part of the expected offensive.

"There is no such action happening at the moment," he said.

The Tigers also attacked a strategic bridge linking northwestern Sri Lanka with the island of Mannar, defence officials said. The attack was repulsed without any damage to the bridge, they said.

Tuesday's attack in Trincomalee followed major setbacks for the LTTE within the last week.

Police commandos backed by the air force attacked a Tamil Tiger camp in eastern Sri Lanka killing 20 Tamil Tiger guerrillas on Sunday including an area leader and an intelligence chief.

The commandos attacked the camp defended by more than 200 cadres in the thick jungle of Kanjikudichchiaru in Eastern Province on Sunday with air force bombing ahead of the search and destroy operation.

Among the dead was Rajan, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the Ampara area, and his intelligence chief, the military said.

An estimated 50 Tigers and eight police commandos were killed in a fierce mortar and machinegun exchange in the east after 500 guerrillas attacked a commando post on Saturday.

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 are planning 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.

The government's war with the Tigers, who are fighting for a homeland in the north and east, has dragged on since 1983. The government says more than 50,000 people have been killed.-Reuter