44 LTTE rebels, one ICRC worker killed in Sri Lanka

Colombo, May 13 (ANI): At least 44 LTTE rebels and one International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) worker are reported to have been killed during fresh clashes between the Sri Lanka Army and the Tamil Tigers.

Two divisions of the Sri Lankan Army continue to advance into rebel territory, even as predictions are being made that the LTTE leadership and cadres could be nabbed in the next 36 hours.

The ICRC said that their worker was a Sri Lankan working as a water technician, and he was killed along with his mother.

The dead man is the third ICRC employee to be killed in the zone in recent weeks. The ICRC has more than 20 employees there.

There are also unconfirmed reports that a hospital in the fighting zone has been hit by shelling, with more than a dozen deaths.

Two Divisions of Lankan forces advancing on the trapped LTTE fighters captured a vital causeway which could help them in organizing another break out attempt for an estimated 50,000 people still trapped in the battle zone.

Carrying out "search and clear operations", security forces recovered bodies of 44 LTTE fighters and a huge cache of arms and ammunitions in Kariyamullavaikkal, the army said.

Army beat back a ferocious sea-borne suicide attack by Sea Tigers in which three fast moving boats attempted to hit troop positions on the shore. (ANI)