Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger guerrillas admitted losing 14 of their fighters in coordinated attacks against army and police units on Wednesday, the day a new government was sworn in Colombo.
The clandestine radio of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said on Thursday they lost 10 of their cadres during a commando-style attack against the Valachchenai Police Station in the eastern district of Batticaloa. The voice of Tigers radio said the rebels captured a large haul of weapons from the station which they overran for 20 minutes.
In the second attack in the adjoining district of Trincomalee, four tigers were killed, the radio said.
The military admitted that six constables were killed in Valachchenai together with a civilian guard of the main telephone exchange which was also destroyed by the Tigers. The military said three soldiers were killed in the second attack.
Intelligence reports this week had indicated the guerrillas were planning to launch a major assault, ending a lull in their attacks during a five-week election campaign, official sources said.
The twin attacks coincided with the swearing-in of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's nominees for a 25-Membercabinet. Bureau Report