M A I N   N E W S

Tigers get arms through Thailand

COLOMBO, May 25 (PTI) — The Sri Lankan army claimed it had repulsed two major rebel attacks in the northern Jaffna peninsula even as 24 persons, including six civilians, were killed in fighting between government troops and the LTTE on different fronts in the north and the east, as the war spread to Batticaloa in the east.

LTTE rebels attacked Kalladi village, near eastern Batticaloa town for the second day in a row, killing six civilians, including two children, and wounding three others, a report here said today.

Meanwhile in Jaffna, troops used artillery, ground attack and aircraft to successfully repulse an LTTE attack at Sarasalai, 5 km east of Chavakachcheri. Both the army and the LTTE claim to be in control of Chavakachcheri.

Five soldiers were killed and 46 wounded in LTTE counter-attacks. Troops attacked a rebel hideout at the Achchuveli area near Jaffna killing five LTTE cadres. One soldier was killed in the attack, the report said.

Two air force gunners were killed when an MI-24 gunship crashlanded at Meesalai, the government said last night. The pilot and co-pilot were, however, rescued.

The police found the explosives hidden in a leather bag buried near the coast just north of the capital Colombo, officials said. The discovery was made yesterday following the arrest of 12 Tamil rebel suspects.

Among items recovered was a jacket filled with plastic explosives used by suicide bombers, the police said, adding they found six other bombs with 300 gm of explosives in each.

The police began a probe into the bomb attack against the Norwegian Embassy hours after Norway’s Deputy Foreign Minister Raymond Johansen left the island, officials said.

The Norwegian Ambassador here, Mr Jon Westborg, said he believed the attack was connected to his country’s efforts to bring the island’s Tamil Tiger guerrillas and government forces to the negotiating table.

BANGKOK: The Tamil Tiger rebels, who are engaged in a fierce civil war with the Sri Lankan military, may be smuggling arms through Thailand, the Thai government said today.

The Bangkok Post today reported that a Thai army intelligence unit has photographed Tamil rebels transferring weapons on a Thai island 15 km from Phuket tourist resort.

Deadline to troops

COLOMBO, May 25 (UNI) — Even as Tamil Tigers set a deadline for tomorrow for an estimated 40,000 government troops defending the northern Jaffna peninsula to ‘surrender’, senior defence officials today visited the war-torn area to boost the morale of the soldiers who were determined to fight till their last to push the enemy out.