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| Sri Lanka |
| Dozens of Tamil Tigers killed in fresh fighting |
| 2008-07-16 |
| Dozens of Tamil Tiger rebels and four soldiers have been killed in the latest fighting in Sri Lanka's north in the past two days, the defence ministry said yesterday. The deaths coincide with a visit by British lawmaker Mark Malloch-Brown, who is in the country to discuss allegations of rights abuses. The defence ministry said 49 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed during fighting on Sunday and Monday, bringing to 4,956 the total number of rebels killed by government forces since January. Four soldiers were also killed, according to the ministry, bringing the total deaths for the same period to 441. Casualty figures on both sides cannot be independently verified as the defence ministry bars journalists from travelling to the frontlines. The British High Commission in Colombo said Malloch Brown, Britain's minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, would discuss Sri Lanka's deteriorating human rights situation and the Sri Lankan government's plans to settle the 36-year-old ethnic conflict. He will meet with senior government officials, civil society organisations and religious leaders during his visit, which ends Thursday. "The Minister will discuss the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, in particular ways of strengthening the mechanism for monitoring and investigating allegations of human rights abuses," the High Commission said. |
| Posted by:Fred |