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10 LTTE cadres killed: Colombo

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka military on Saturday claimed that at least 10 cadres of the LTTE were killed and three soldiers injured as fighting continued in the north and east.

According to the Defence Ministry, at least five LTTE cadres including a regional leader, Ravindran were killed when Special Task Force (STF) personnel repulsed an LTTE attack at Neriyakanaththa in the Kanchikudiaru area in Ampara district on Saturday morning.

The Ministry said the incident occurred around 6.30 a.m. when the Tamil Tiger cadres attacked the police commandos engaged in the final phase of their operation “Niyathai Jaya” in the area.

“The STF retaliated to the attack successfully and brought the situation under control. The LTTE cadres, unable to withstand the STF retaliation, fled the area with their dead and injured. During the subsequent search, STF found five T-56 riffles, 480 rounds of live ammunition, eight hand grenades, four Anti-Personnel Mines, 2.5 kg of C-4 high explosives and several other military gears”, it said.

Separately, troops manning the Northern Forward Defence Lines (FDLs) claimed that they had gunned down five LTTE cadres at Eluthumaduwal. They were shot down while attempting to move towards the security forces defence lines.

In another development, the Secretary General of the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (Peace Secretariat), Rajiva Wijesinha, has drawn the attention of the Co-Chairs on the Sri Lanka Peace Process to recent reports that the LTTE is in the process of recruiting one member from each family in areas under its control, for possible military purposes.

In a letter addressed to the Co-Chairs, Mr. Wijesinha referred to attempts made to recruit persons working for NGOs in the north. His letter said, “I write with reference to recent reports of Ambassador Brattskar’s visit to Kilinochchi, which record him as stating that the LTTE is in the process of recruiting one member of each family. This is probably to join its armed forces, though there may be other purposes, some perhaps even more sinister.”

The letter said such recruitment is a gross violation of Article 2.1 of the Ceasefire Agreement, which states that the parties shall abstain from hostile acts against the civilian population, including such acts as torture, intimidation, abduction.

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