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Fierce fighting in Sri Lanka

B. Muralidhar Reddy

13 soldiers among 80 killed in Trincomalee district

COLOMBO: At least 80 persons, including 13 soldiers of Sri Lanka Army (SLA), were killed in fierce fighting between the military and the Tamil Tigers in the Trincomalee district in the last 24 hours.

According to the Government, the retaliatory operation launched by the armed forces to protect the resettling civilians from the Tiger offensive marched forward successfully.

It said the Tigers continued to resist the attempts by security forces in the resettlement programme in the southern Trincomalee through mortar and artillery fire.

The military said the troops had launched a clearing operation in Selvanagar, Thoppur and Muttur area since Monday.

"This operation will continue facilitating the resettlement of civilians displaced in the recent Tiger offensives." The LTTE's military spokesman Irasaiah Ilanthirayan on Tuesday said the Army was continuing its offensive towards Sampur in Trincomalee district.

"If the Sri Lankan military aggression continued, it would set a full stop to the February 2002 Ceasefire Agreement," he was quoted as saying on the TamilNet.

Journalist missing

A pall of gloom descended among the journalist community here following the disappearance of Nadarajah Kuruparan, News Manager of Sooriyan FM Radio broadcast.

The programme leader of the popular weekly programme Viluthukal, Mr. Kuruparan is reported missing since Tuesday morning, Dehiwale police said.

He was on his way to work in his car when he was reported missing. Journalist associations and the Free Media Movement in Colombo held an urgent protest calling for his release.

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in a ruling on the June 15 attack of a civilian bus at Kabitigollewa (in the south) has held the LTTE responsible for the brutal and inhuman act, the Government said on Tuesday.

However, an SLMM spokesperson told The Hindu "There are two main elements in the report on the bus attack which led to killing of 68 persons. The Government statement is focused only on the LTTE part. We would release the full report perhaps on Wednesday."

In a statement here, the Government Peace Secretariat quoted the SLMM report as saying the LTTE was the only element with the motive, capability and capacity to carry out such an attack and must bear the responsibility for the killing of the civilians.

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