Sri Lanka rebels say kill 22 soldiers in firefight

COLOMBO, July 14: Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels said today they killed 22 soldiers in a firefight in potentially the worst military clash since a 2002 truce, but the army said the number of fatalities would be far lower.

The Red Cross said their staff had seen the bodies of 12 soldiers and 4 Tiger fighters, and would coordinate the handover of the bodies tomorrow.

Kayal Viliyan, a senior rebel in the Tigers' eastern political office in the district of Batticaloa, told Reuters around 60 troops entered Tiger territory in an area the military say is government-held, and were surrounded by about 200 rebels.

''We have found 22 bodies, and we are still searching,'' he said by telephone from Batticaloa. ''They came into our area and we retaliated. We have also captured some military personnel.'' The military confirmed there had been a clash in Batticaloa, where the dividing line between government- and rebel-held areas is often porous and ill-defined, but said four troops had been wounded and some were unaccounted for.

''Our patrol was fired upon with heavy weapons and mortars, close to an army camp. Additional troops were rushed to the area, and when they arrived, the Tigers surrounded them,'' said a military spokesman, Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe.

''I presume some soldiers have been killed, but it is not 22. It is very much less. A few are missing.'' The incident came as Sri Lanka's navy rained mortar shells on Tamil rebel positions in the neighbouring northern district of Trincomalee in a separate incident after suspected snipers killed one sailor and injured one.

Yesterday, suspected Tiger rebels shot dead three soldiers and a political rival in northern Sri Lanka. The ambushes and military clashes have killed more than 700 people so far this year and strained the 2002 truce to the breaking point.

VERGE OF COLLAPSE

Sri Lanka's tortuous peace process is deadlocked and teetering on the verge of collapse. Government and rebels are sharply divided over the Tigers' demands for a separate homeland for minority Tamils in the north and east. Diplomats and analysts fear escalating violence could push the island back into a full-fledged war that would punish the billion economy and the tourist industry.

However, the government insists it is still ready to talk peace with the Tigers despite a rash of deadly fragmentation mine attacks on the military.

In a rare exchange of goodwill, the Tigers today said they would release a policeman they have detained since September 2005, when he entered their territory without permission to track down a suspected foreign paedophile.

Two fellow policemen were earlier released, one in a prisoner swap. The release of the third, due tomorrow, comes after President Mahinda Rajapakse allowed Tiger media coordinator Daya Master to be rushed to Colombo for treatment for a heart condition.

However, many in the Sinhalese-majority south have little compassion for the Tigers after two decades of civil war that have killed more than 65,000 on both sides.

Some want former professor and non-militant Daya Master arrested in his hospital bed, where he is closely guarded by armed police and not allowed to receive visitors.

''Why is the government protecting killers?'' asked 32-year-old Roshan Chaminda, secretary of the National Movement Against Terrorism, as dozens protested outside the top-end Apollo hospital.

''He is a terrorist organisation leader. They kill Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslim and anyone else against them,'' he said.

REUTERS