COLOMBO, July 29: The Sri Lankan air force killed 40 fighters belonging to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in air strikes this week, a military spokesman claimed on Saturday.
The LTTE said it had lost only eight of its men.
The air force started pounding LTTE-controlled territory in Trincomalee and Batticaloa last week after the Tigers blocked the main water supply to nearly 20,000 people in government-held areas of Trincomalee.
EUROPEAN MONITORS: A number of European countries have decided to withdraw observers monitoring a truce between the Lankan military and the Tamil Tigers after the LTTE warned the monitors last week to leave the country by Sept 1. Almost 40 monitors would leave Sri Lanka soon, an official said.
The latest to announce the recall was Finland, one of five countries that make up the truce monitoring mission. Finland has 11 observers in Sri Lanka.
