Sri Lankan troops killed 30 rebels in a fierce jungle battle in the restive east and three insurgents killed themselves with cyanide capsules, the military said, as Japan’s peace envoy voiced concern at rights abuses. The military said one soldier had been killed and 17 injured in the battle in an area of eastern jungle called Thoppigala, where the two sides have fought artillery and mortar bomb duels for weeks amid a new chapter in a two-decade civil war. The Tigers said they had no immediate details of any casualties from the latest fighting. “We estimate troops killed 30 Tigers, plus three Tigers committed suicide in front of our troops,” a spokesman for the Media Centre for National Security said, asking not to be named in line with policy. He said troops had overrun four Tiger bases.
“I think this might be the last battle in Thoppigala,” he added, referring to a military campaign to stamp the rebels out in the east, where the insurgents were evicted from a former stronghold in January. Japanese peace envoy Yasushi Akashi said on Saturday he was worried by human rights violations blamed on both the Sri Lankan state and the Tamil Tigers, as police returned hundreds of deported Tamils to the capital in a U-turn.
However, unlike Britain and the United States which have both suspended some aid citing rights abuse concerns, Akashi said Japan - Sri LankaÂ’s chief financial donor - would continue with its multi-million-dollar aid programmes.
“In the domain of human rights, much still remains to be done. There are obviously deficiencies and shortcomings,” Akashi told a news conference, listing “that unfortunate action of eviction of Tamil residents from lodges in Colombo and many other acts of disappearances, abductions, extrajudicial killings...” “They are too numerous and they are unacceptable for a civilised country like Sri Lanka,” he added. “I very much hope these problems will be energetically addressed by all concerned.”
Rights groups have reported hundreds of abductions and disappearances blamed on both sides. President Mahinda Rajapaksa argues many of those reports are fake and designed to discredit his government and denies the security forces are involved. “My meeting with the president of the country as well as other leaders has convinced me that the commitment for peace is still there,” Akashi said. “I am going back with a certain amount of hope and optimism as to the future of this country.”
Media slams Tamil eviction:Sri Lankan media Saturday condemned the government over the eviction of hundreds of minority Tamils from the capital at gunpoint, and praised the Supreme Court for halting the move. “While extraordinary measures are certainly called for to meet the growing threat of terrorism, the eviction of Tamils from any part of the country on any ground cannot be countenanced,” said The Island, a privately-run, English-language newspaper.
The Daily Mirror, a Sinhalese-owned newspaper, said the police action was a “clear and serious violation” of human rights of the Tamil minority and contributed to ethnic divisions.