Sri Lanka rebels kill 4 village policemen - military

Relatives cry at the location where four policemen were killed in Vavuniya, July 24, 2007. Tamil Tiger rebels ambushed and killed four village policemen in the restive northern district of Vavuniya before dawn on Tuesday, the military said, the latest in a spree of deadly attacks on security forces in the area.




Sri Lankan policemen and army soldiers inspect the location where four policemen were killed in Vavuniya, July 24, 2007. Tamil Tiger rebels ambushed and killed four village policemen in the restive northern district of Vavuniya before dawn on Tuesday, the military said, the latest in a spree of deadly attacks on security forces in the area.

Tamil Tiger rebels ambushed and killed four village policemen in the restive northern district of Vavuniya before dawn on Tuesday, the military said, the latest in a spree of deadly attacks on security forces in the area.

The fatal shootings come after a rash of land and sea clashes, ambushes and air raids that have killed an estimated 4,500 people since last year alone.

"The terrorists attacked a homeguard post near Vavuniya town, killing four of them" a spokesman for the Media Centre for National Security said, declining to be named in line with policy.

Homeguards are a force of police recruited and armed to guard their own villages and wear a distinct light purple uniform. The town of Vavuniya is the last major staging post before the southern front line that separates government from rebel-held territory in the north.

Fighting has now shifted to the far north, where the Tigers run a diminished de facto state after losing vast swathes of territory in the east in the face of military advances in recent months.

There are now daily clashes of killings amid a new chapter of a two-decade civil war that has killed nearly 70,000 people since 1983, and analysts see no clear winner on the horizon and fear the conflict will grind on for years.

(http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL159595.htm)

Danish aid group says staffer killed in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, July 23 (Reuters) - A gunman shot dead a Sri Lankan staff member of the Danish Refugee Council in the island's army-held far northern Jaffna peninsula, the aid group said on Monday, the latest in a series of killings of humanitarian staff.

"One of our national staff in Jaffna was murdered this morning," said Charles Macfadden, head of the group's Sri Lanka mission.

"We know nothing. He was on his way to work, we understand he dropped (off) his wife, stopped and had a chat with someone and someone came behind him," he added. "We have no information as to why or wherefore."

The killing comes weeks after two Sri Lanka Red Cross volunteers were found murdered after they were abducted from the capital by men in plain clothes who identified themselves as policemen. Police denied any involvement.

The military had no immediate details on the killing, which took place on a peninsula where an estimated 50,000 troops are stationed and where Tamil Tiger rebels continue to mount sporadic attacks amid a new chapter in a two-decade civil war.

The international community has repeatedly voiced concerns about rights abuses blamed on the Tigers as well as elements of the Sri Lankan military.

Nordic truce monitors suspect elements of the military were behind the execution-style murder of 17 local staff of aid agency Action Contre la Faim in the island's east last year, the worst attack against humanitarian workers since the 2003 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Iraq.

(http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL221138.htm)

S.Lanka Tigers run multi-million dollar empire-report

LONDON, July 23 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels run a worldwide legal and illegal business empire generating revenue of $200 to $300 million a year to put towards guns, planes and attack boats, according to an analyst's report.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been fighting for a separate homeland for minority ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka's north and east for more than two decades, building a reputation as one of the world's most fearsome guerrilla groups.

The Tigers deny any criminal activity.

The report in the August edition of Jane's Intelligence Review paints a picture of a powerful global network of professional managers -- both Tamils and others -- across a string of countries with operations perhaps from shipping to drugs and extortion.

"Some of the money will go on arms, some of it on administrating areas controlled by the LTTE," Christian LeMiere, managing editor of Jane's Country Risk, told Reuters on Monday. "Shoulder launched surface to air missiles are almost certainly the most probable item on the wish list but there will also be small arms and other weapons."

The Tigers would not comment on the report, but have always denied involvement in criminality. They say their funds come from taxes in their territory and voluntary contributions from the wealthy Tamil diaspora, many of whom fled during the war.

The world's wealthiest guerrilla group remained Colombia's FARC rebels because of their vast drugs revenues, he said, but the LTTE was quite possibly second. Weapons were smuggled in from southeast Asia and nearby parts of India, he said.

"But the progress of the war since 2006 has been against the LTTE, so it hasn't done them very much good," LeMiere said. There have also been a string of arrests of alleged Tiger weapons buyers in North America, Europe and Thailand.

The report said a network of Tamil charities proved an effective way of moving money. The Sri Lankan government says large amounts of money raised after the 2004 tsunami found their way to the rebels -- a charge they deny.

Possessors of the world's only rebel air force and a navy of fast attack boats, the LTTE were able to bomb the capital and airport this year with light aircraft probably smuggled into the country in pieces.

GLOBAL FUNDING CRACKDOWN

But the rebels have lost large amounts of territory in the island's east to the army since late 2002 ceasefire collapsed last year and government jets have been able to raid their bases with impunity -- hence their perceived desire for anti-aircraft missiles.

Analysts and diplomats blame both the Tigers and government for the renewed war and the roughly 4,000 deaths. Western donors have cut aid to Sri Lanka over widely reported rights abuses.

The Tigers, who still control a de facto state in the north, have been widely condemned for their use of suicide bombing and are listed in the United States, European Union and elsewhere as terrorists.

Jane's says their freedom to operate overseas was reduced by a global crackdown on militant groups after the September 11, 2001 attacks -- although the LTTE themselves have always steered clear of attacking Western targets.

(http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L23559541.htm)

Sri Lanka Tamil Tigers say 5 rebels killed in clash

Five Tamil Tiger fighters were killed in a clash with army troops in the island's restive northwest overnight, the rebels said on Monday, claiming to have inflicted heavy casualties on the military.

The incident in the northwestern district of Mannar came hours after Sri Lankan police found and defused a powerful bomb at a fair just 3 miles (5 km) from a rally attended by President Mahinda Rajapaksa near the capital Colombo.

It also comes after a rash of land and sea clashes, ambushes and air raids that have killed an estimated 4,500 people since last year alone.

"The two-pronged attempt of the SLAF (Sri Lankan armed forces) ... was thwarted by the LTTE frontliners. The SLAF formation fell back with heavy casualties and material loss," rebel military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan said in a statement.

The military said it retaliated to a rebel mortar bomb attack and said it had no immediate details of any casualties.

Analysts say the foes tend to exaggerate enemy losses and play down their own in a war that has killed nearly 70,000 people since 1983. There was no independent confirmation of what had happened or how many people were killed.

The Tigers have lost vast swathes of territory in the island's east in recent months in the face of army advances, and the focus of fighting has now shifted to the north, where the Tigers run a de facto state they want recognised as independent.

But while losing their foothold in the east was a significant military defeat, the Tigers have vowed to switch to guerrilla warfare tactics in a bid to cripple the economy with attacks on major military and economic targets and analysts see no clear winner on the horizon.

(http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL160606.htm)

Four terrorists killed; Troops consolidate defences in Northern FDLs- Jaffna

affna military troops claimed that four LTTE terrorists were killed in clashes along the northern FDLs at Muhamalai today (July 23) morning at 09.00a.m.

Troops said that LTTE elements attempting to infiltrate the army forward defences drew fire initially, and further added that bodies of the slain cadres were observed lying ahead of the FDLs.

Media Center for National Security officials, citing Jaffna field Commanders said that, the LTTE attempt to breach the Muhamali FDLs was totally revolted by the army soldiers. It was also reported that two army soldiers have sustained injuries, MCNS cited.

(http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20070723_08)