Troops kill 25 Tamil Tigers

Troops kill 25 Tamil Tigers

COLOMBO (AFP): Security forces fought a major gun battle with Tamil Tiger guerrillas in eastern Sri Lanka and killed at least 25 rebels, the defense ministry said yesterday.

Government forces smashed a jungle base of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the district of Batticaloa Friday with the help of artillery units, the ministry said.

"The ground troops confirmed that they observed about 25 terrorist dead bodies in an open area ahead of them," the ministry said adding that eight soldiers were wounded in the fighting.

The ministry said that security forces destroyed the Tiger base known as Kangas which also housed food stores and an office of the guerrillas.

There had been an upsurge in rebel attacks in the island's eastern regions in the past two weeks.

The LTTE is leading a protracted campaign for independence in the northern and eastern regions where the two million Tamil minority is concentrated. More than 50,000 people have died in bitter fighting in the past 23 years.