19-01-2008

Sri Lanka Says Tamil Tiger Rebels Killed 10 People in South

By Michael Heath

Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lanka said rebels from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam group shot dead 10 people in the nation's south, after the government in Colombo earlier this week withdrew from a cease-fire.

Troops found the bodies of 10 people killed by the LTTE in an overnight raid in the Thanamalwila district about 260 kilometers (160 miles) southeast of the capital, Colombo, the Defense Ministry said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.

The men were in the jungle with a civilian force that assists Sri Lanka's army and were killed by armed men in two separate incidents, TamilNet reported.

The government formally ended a 2002 cease-fire, brokered by Norway, on Jan. 16, saying the LTTE used it to strengthen its forces and prepare attacks. The Tamil Tigers last week said they were ``shocked and disappointed'' by the decision.

Hours after the cease-fire formally ended, a mine exploded near a bus in southeastern Sri Lanka, killing 26 people. The Defense Ministry blamed the LTTE.

The Tamil Tigers, designated a terrorist group by the U.S., the European Union and India, have been fighting for a separate homeland for 25 years in a conflict that has killed more than 70,000 people. Fighting intensified in the north and east after two rounds of peace talks in 2006 failed.

Sri Lanka's military has targeted the LTTE leadership in the north since capturing the east in July. Velupillai Prabhakaran, the LTTE leader, was wounded in an air raid in November, according to the government, and the head of the political wing was killed two months ago. The group's military intelligence chief was killed Jan. 6.

`Completely Destroyed'

Sri Lanka's air force on Jan. 17 bombed a gathering of LTTE leaders near their headquarters in the northern town of Killinochchi. The site was ``completely destroyed,'' the Defense Ministry said. It didn't say whether any leaders were killed.

Bombs hit a civilian area, killing one person and wounding seven, TamilNet reported on its Web site at the time. More than 800 children and teachers fled as bombs struck 100 meters (330 feet) from their school, it said.

Tamils make up 11.9 percent of the country's population of 20 million people and Sinhalese almost 74 percent, according to a 2001 census.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Heath in Sydney at mheath1@bloomberg.net .

Source-Bloomberg