The Ceylon News

LTTE artillery shelling killed 46 civilians Friday inside the safety zone in the besieged pocket in Mullaiththeevu. LTTE-fired shells hit 6 tarpaulin shelters of the IDPs in Maaththa'lan Friday, killing 16 civilians. Meanwhile 4 civilians were killed around 11:00 a.m., 300 meters near the coastal spot, where the ICRC was transporting wounded civilians. On Thursday, 39 civilians including 11 children were killed and at least 17 civilians were reported killed inside the safety zone on Wednesday.

6 civilians were killed in Pokk'anai when a single shell hit an IDP hut around 1:00 p.m. on Friday.

The remaining casualties were reported in Mu'l'livaaykkaal, Iraddaivaaykkaal, and Valaignarmadam.

Heavy shelling was reported in Pokka'nai and Maaththa'lan areas within the safety zone since 11:00 p.m. Thursday.

At least 23 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed and many others injured in fierce fighting with the government troops in the rebels' shrinking territory in northeastern Sri Lanka, the military said on Thursday.

Officials from the Defense of Ministry said the rebels were killed when the troops ran into Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eealm (LTTE) resistance positions in the northeast of Puthukkudiyirippu on Wednesday.

The military did not release any casualty figures of the troops.

Meanwhile, a pro-rebel website said at least 610 soldiers were killed and over 700 others injured in fighting with the rebels in Puthukudiyirupu area on Monday.

The website said in past few weeks, the LTTE rebels counter attacked the troops in many fronts and killed large numbers of soldiers to unprecedented level of the troopers.

The casualty figures claimed by both sides could not be confirmed as any independent organization or media is not allowed to have access to the battle zone.

The military said the LTTE are now confined to an area of just 28 sq km down from over 15,000 sq km they held when the current military offensive began in 2006.

The LTTE began to rebel against the government to set up a separate homeland for the minority in the north and east in the mid-1980s, based on claims that the minority Tamils had been discriminated by the majority Sinhalese dominated governments.

More than 70,000 people have died in the conflict since the mid-1980s in one of the world's longest civil wars.