Rebel spy chief killed in Sri Lanka

Death of “Colonel Charles” comes amid claims of 36 LTTE casualties in fresh clashes.

Sri Lank soldiers
Sri Lanka ended a ceasefire with the Tamil Tigers after a series of attacks in the capital Colombo [AFP]
He said the intelligence chief could have been killed in a number of clashes with soldiers on Saturday.
 
The military earlier reported it killed at least 36 Tamil Tiger fighters in skirmishes in the north on Saturday.
 
Also on Sunday, two suspected rebels died after setting off a grenade, apparently to kill themselves to avoid capture by the military, a defence official said.
 
Soldiers had cordoned off Kottady village in northern Jaffna peninsula for a search, and two men hiding in a pit blew themselves up as troops approached them, he said.
 
Failed ceasefire
 
The clashes came just days after the government officially withdrew from a shaky ceasefire with the LTTE that was signed in 2002 but failed to end the violence.
 
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Troops destroyed four bunkers in the Nagarkovil and Muhamalai areas of Jaffna peninsula, killing six fighters, the defence ministry said.

 
Separately, soldiers attacked two bunkers in Mannar district’s Adampan village and exchanged artillery rounds with the Tamil Tigers, killing 10 of them, the ministry said.
 
Also in Mannar, soldiers overran six LTTE bunkers and killed 10 fighters, the ministry said in a statement.
 
Ten more Tamil Tigers died on Saturday in clashes in three villages bordering Mannar, the statement said. Nine soldiers were wounded.
 
Rasiah Ilanthirayan, a spokesman for the LTTE, was not available to comment on the military’s claims and it is not possible to obtain independent confirmation of the clashes because journalists are not allowed in the conflict areas.
 
About 70,000 people are reported to have been killed since the Tamil Tigers began fighting in the early 1980s for an independent state for the ethnic Tamil minority, claiming discrimination by the Sinhalese majority.
 
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Source: News Agencies