An upsurge of violence in the conflict between Tamil Tiger rebels and Sri Lankan government forces has claimed up to 45 lives in the past 24 hours, although an exact toll has not been confirmed.
The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) claimed they killed at least 35 sailors and lost four of their own men in an attack on a naval facility on a remote islet in the north of the country on Thursday.
Sri Lanka’s Defence Ministry, however, said in a statement that the attack was resisted and 18 rebels were killed for the loss of four sailors.
”Intercepted LTTE communications revealed that 18 Sea Tiger cadres, including four leaders, had been killed and another large number injured,” the ministry said.
Each side is known to discount casualty figures claimed by the other. There is no independent verification due to foreign truce monitors having little or no access to combat areas.
In other violence, the guerrillas attacked constables of the police home-guard unit in the north of the island on Thursday, killing three men, according to the Defence Ministry.
It said two Tiger rebels were shot dead by troops in the east of the island.
In the capital, an army driver was killed on Thursday when suspected Tiger rebels set off a roadside blast targeting a military bus, hospital spokesperson Pushpa Soysa said. She said six others were wounded.
Defence Ministry figures show that 4 982 people have been killed in the past 18 months. Among those killed are 1 262 security personnel and 2 664 Tiger rebels, according to the ministry’s figures. — Sapa-AFP