According to a Defence Ministry statement, the LTTE camp was attacked based on real-time ground information indicating “intensified terrorist activates.”

The target was of ‘high value,’ it said adding that no further comments could be made due to security reasons. It further claimed that the LTTE leadership had lost control over its ranks and that information was coming from “inside” to security forces. “Clashes among senior LTTE cadres and continuous harassment suffered by junior LTTE cadres have facilitated the information flow.” More...Discuss this story Published: Tue Apr 1 21:09:59 EDT 2008

University Teachers for Human Rights, a respected local group, issued a 29-page report Tuesday that claimed to describe the killings of the 17 in the eastern town of Muttur in August 2006, after a fierce battle between troops and Tamil rebels.

The slain workers all but one of whom were members of the ethnic minority Tamil ethnic group were working on tsunami-relief projects at the time.

The researchers spoke to the victims' families and residents of the town more than a dozen people in all and received information from within the police force, said Rajan Hoole, a spokesman for the group. They also talked to the people who collected the bodies, and carried out their own forensic analysis of the ammunition at the scene, he said.

According to the report, two police officers and one paramilitary home guard accompanied by a team of commandos entered the offices where the aid workers had holed up, accused them of helping the rebels, forced them to kneel down and summarily executed them as they screamed for mercy.

The security forces then covered up their role in the killings, the report said.

In response to the international outcry over the massacre, the government set up a commission of inquiry 18 months ago which has not yet resolved the case.

An international panel of experts appointed to advise the commission resigned and stopped working Monday, saying the probe did not meet international standards and accusing the government of lacking the will to investigate the incidents.

Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona said Tuesday that those concerned needed to remain patient.

``What we should do is wait for the outcome of the inquiry before rushing to judgment,'' he said. He branded the university teachers' report ``a grave injustice to those looking forward to a just result from this inquiry.''Discuss this story Published: Tue Apr 1 11:00:02 EDT 2008

The hospital in Mannar district was partially damaged by heavy artillery from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the defence ministry said, adding that a few shells had also fallen close to a nearby state-run school. More... Discuss this story Published: Tue Apr 1 20:55:57 EDT 2008