LTTE using suicide bombers to hold back govt forces

Displaced Tamil civilians are seen inside the hospital of the northern Sri Lankan town of Vavuniya yesterday. Tamil Tigers are using suicide bombers to hold back government forces who are close to overrunning the last patch of rebel-held territory, the military said. Photo: AFP

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers are using suicide bombers to hold back government forces who are close to overrunning the last patch of rebel-held territory, the military said yesterday.
The Tigers have deployed hundreds of suicide bombers to devastating effect in the past 20 years, claiming several high-profile victims, including the then president Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993.
Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said advancing ground troops had been confronted by suicide attacks, but gave no details on whether there had been any casualties.
The government estimates that up to 20,000 civilians are being held in the less than five-square-kilometre (two-square-mile) area where the rebels are holed up. The United Nations has said the number could be as high as 50,000.
President Mahinda Rajapakse, under pressure over allegations that his troops have been shelling civilians, Wednesday invited UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to visit the island.
A UN document circulated among diplomats in Colombo last month said as many as 6,500 civilians may have been killed and 14,000 wounded in the government's offensive this year, according to figures that could not be verified.
Sri Lanka's main Tamil moderate party demanded an immediate truce saying that a final assault against Tiger rebels would inevitably lead to more civilian deaths.
The Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), a pro-government party, urged the president to allow the UN to arrange a rebel surrender.
TULF leader V. Anandasangari said at least 170 Tamil civilians had been killed and some 951 wounded during four days of fighting last week.
"The only option you now have, if you want to bring out the civilians safely, is to get the UN to... persuade the LTTE to release the people and in return offer a general amnesty to whoever surrenders to the forces," Anandasangari said in a letter to the president.
"The so-called fire-free zone is under the control of the LTTE and they get mixed with the civilians, making it impossible for the forces to separate the LTTE and attack them without harming the civilians," he said.
"In the present situation any attempt to attack the LTTE will result in a large number of civilians falling victim."