Sri Lankan Tamil Rebels Kill Five Paramilitary Police

Sri Lankan separatist Tamil Tiger rebels killed five paramilitary police in the east of the country when they launched an attack on Tuesday, officials said.

A group of rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) shot dead the security men known as home guards who were providing protection to local farmers at a village in the Welikanda area, they said.

Last Tuesday, the LTTE rebels launched a pre-dawn attack on an airbase and the country's only international airport, destroying or damaging 14 military and civilian aircraft. A total of 14 rebels and seven military personnel were killed in the attack.

The LTTE rebels have been fighting against government forces since 1983 in the north and east of the country attempting to set up an independent Tamil homeland there. More than 64,000 people have died in the brutal ethnic war.






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