Fresh violence in Lanka kills 42

Colombo, Sept. 12: A round of new fighting between government forces and separatist Tamil Tigers across the Sri Lanka’s embattled north killed 41 rebels and one soldier, the military said on Friday.

The latest clashes erupted all day on Thursday along the front lines separating government-held territory and the rebels’ de facto state in the north, a military statement said.

According to the statement, the worst of Thursday’s fighting took place in the Kilinochchi district deep in the rebel’s northern heartland. A total of 19 rebels and one soldier were killed and 11 soldiers were wounded.

Twelve rebels were killed in three separate clashes in Vavuniya, and 10 rebels died in scattered battles in Welioya and Jaffna, the statement said.

Rebel spokesmen could not be reached for comment. Most lines of communication to rebel-held areas have been cut in recent weeks. It was not possible to independently verify the military’s claims because most journalists are banned from the war zone. Both sides routinely exaggerate enemy losses and underreport their own. Violence in the northern war zone has escalated as the government pressed ahead with its promise to crush the ethnic Tamil separatists and end the 25-year-old civil war by the end of the year.

The new round of fighting has forced thousands of civilians to flee deeper into rebel-held territory. The government has ordered all aid workers in rebel-held territory to leave the area, even as humanitarian workers have expressed concerns. —AP

***

Tiger chief honours Army base bombers

Colombo, Sept. 12: Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger chief has paid tribute to 10 suicide bombers who killed at least 15 people in an attack on a northern military base, a pro-rebel website said on Friday.

The elusive Velupillai Prabhakaran, 53, garlanded photographs of the "Black Tiger" suicide bombers at an undisclosed location in the northern Wanni region on Thursday, Tamilnet.com website reported.

Five women were among the group that struck the Vavuniya military complex, 260 km north of Colombo on Tuesday, the rebels said.

The LTTE also used light aircraft to drop bombs on the base. —AFP