Velupillai Prabhakaran (pictured), is leader of the beleaguered Tigers who have now declared a unilateral ceasefire, which the Sri Lankan army called a 'joke'.
COLOMBO - SRI Lankan government troops on Monday launched a fierce pre-dawn attack against Tamil Tiger rebels holed up on the island's northeast coast, the pro-rebel Tamilnet website said.
The website said the army was directing heavy fire from all sides of the small patch of coastal territory still held by the separatist rebels and where tens of thousands of civilians are also trapped.
REBELS WITH A CAUSE
The Tamil Tigers, listed as a terrorist group by many Western nations, have been fighting since 1983 for an ethnic Tamil state in the north and east after decades of marginalisation by governments dominated by the Sinhalese majority.
The rebels ran a shadow state across a vast swath of the north.
The attack came hours after Colombo rejected the Tamil Tigers' offer of a ceasefire, saying it was on the brink of totally defeating the separatists.
According to Tamilnet, 160,000 civilians are still in rebel-held territory. The United Nations has put the figure at up to 50,000, while the government says 15,000-20,000 civilians are still being held 'hostage' by the Tigers.
'If the expected offensive goes forward there will be more than 10,000 casualties, as the area is densely populated and there is no cover from bombs, shells, and bullets,' a rebel-affiliated aid group, the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), was quoted as saying.
The defence ministry did not comment on the report, but said ground troops killed at least 12 guerillas and injured 27 others during fighting on Sunday.
Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse on Sunday dismissed the rebel truce offer as 'a joke'. 'What is the need for a ceasefire when they are running away? They should first lay down arms, surrender and let the people go,' Rajapakse said.
Reports of renewed fighting came as UN Humanitarian chief John Holmes was due to meet Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama, before visiting camps in northern Vavuniya where over 113,000 civilians have sought refuge from the fighting.
Mr Holmes had on Sunday appealed to both sides to stop the violence, saying that recent fighting had taken 'a terrible toll' on civilians.
Mr Holmes is also due to meet Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Monday evening, before wrapping up a three-day visit. -- AFP
