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10 LTTE cadre killed, says Colombo

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s military claimed on Friday that at least 10 LTTE cadre were killed and 19 others injured in fighting in the north. On Thursday, the air force claimed have raided “a Sea Tiger base” of the LTTE on the Mulaithiuvu coast.

The military conceded that nine of its soldiers were wounded, four of them in anti-personnel mine explosions.

Thursday’s air raid came amid intense fighting around the Madu church area in Mannar district.

Separately, 45 journalists’ associations and human rights organisations have expressed concern over the safety of journalists in Sri Lanka in an International Federation Journalists-led letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The letter, calling for a halt to the “escalating culture of violence” against journalists, is the first in a series of actions for the “Stop the War on Journalists’ campaign for Sri Lanka. The campaign will culminate with the World Press Freedom Day celebrations on May 3 and the release of the IFJ’s annual South Asia Press Freedom Report for 2007-08.

“Our colleagues in Sri Lanka need to know that the international press freedom and human rights communities stand in solidarity with them and support their tireless work,” IFJ Asia Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.

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