52 Tigers killed in Lanka fighting.

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan troops killed 52 Tamil Tiger rebels as jets bombed and destroyed a rebel base in the island's far north yesterday. The air raid was carried out on what the military called 'Radha Base' in Teravikulam village, in the north-eastern district of Mullaittivu. Soldiers killed eight guerillas in fighting along the front lines in Vavuniya region, the military said. In the nearby Mannar district, soldiers attacked rebel bunkers and killed seven fighters, while in the north-eastern Welioya region, seven guerillas were killed. "The pressure we are applying will be continued," said military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara. "Our operations against them will continue to impose maximum casualties to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam," he said.

A UN agency yesterday appealed for $44 million (BD16m) to feed thousands of people displaced by fighting. The World Food Programme currently feeds more than a million Sri Lankans, of whom 400,000 have been internally displaced. "For now, we urgently need $11m to feed people as fighting increases in the northern districts of Jaffna and Vavuniya," WFP country director, Mohamed Saleheen, said. "Our operations are suffering as donor funds are not coming fast enough to pay for local purchases," he said.

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