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Hundreds of Tamils detained, says report

COLOMBO: The Sri Lanka military on Sunday claimed that at least 60 cadres of the LTTE and six soldiers were killed and dozens of others injured in pitched battles between the forces and the Tigers in the north on Saturday.

There was no word from the Tigers on the Forward Defence Line battles. The Tigers have been maintaining complete silence since the November 27 “Hero’s Day” speech of their leader, Velupillai Prabakaran.

A statement by the Defence Ministry claimed that soldiers were going in for “pre-emptive operations in the Northern Province and have won considerable victories over LTTE”.

It said that at least 60 Tiger cadres were killed and over 87 injured in the confrontations that took place on Muhamalai, Mannar, Vavuniya and Welioya fronts on Saturday. Also, six soldiers were killed and 37 injured in the incidents.

The Ministry said that in the Wanni theatre, Mannar front, troops made a pre emptive attack at the LTTE defence line at Manthai, South of Adampan and breached the bunker line of the LTTE. It claimed that 28 LTTE cadres were killed and 57 injured in the confrontation which continued from early morning to 10.30 p.m. on Saturday night. Five soldiers were killed and 26 others suffered injuries due to mortar fire and anti personal mine explosions.

On the Vavuniya front, the Ministry said that troops marched forward and overran Tigers defence at Periyathmapanai killing 20 LTTE cadres.

Separately, The Nation, a weekly paper, reported that more than 800 Tamils were arrested in Colombo since Friday during combined search operations launched by the security forces and police, following Wednesday’s bomb blasts.

The paper said that some 100 detenus have been sent to the Boossa detention camp in Galle following the arrests. “Around 350 Tamils were initially detained on Friday by the Maradana, Pettah, Grand Pass, Kotahena, Dehiwala, Pelawatte, Mirihana and Mount Lavinia police stations on suspicion.

“However, the number had increased to over 800 by last evening”, the paper said.

It further said chaos prevailed after distraught family members of the victims attempted to march towards the Presidential palace to seek President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s intervention to release the detenus.

The attempt was however blocked by the police.

UNP Colombo district Parliamentarian T. Maheswaran, told The Nation that they suspected that Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and his brother Basil Rajapaksa were responsible for the detentions.

The paper said Mr. Maheswaran has written to India’s National Security Advisor M. K. Narayanan, requesting visas for temporary Tamil residents in Colombo to travel to Chennai in a bid to avoid harassment by Sri Lankan authorities.

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