Tigers accuse Sri Lanka of killing priest

April 20, 2008 (AFP) - Sri Lankan forces Sunday killed a Roman Catholic priest inside rebel-held territory, Tiger guerrillas said as the defence ministry reported 16 more deaths in fresh violence.







The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said Father M.

X. Karunaratnam, who was also a top human rights campaigner, was killed in a roadside bomb attack carried out by government soldiers who infiltrated the Mallavi area.

The priest headed the North East Secretariat on Human Rights, a group active in guerrilla-held Wanni region in the north of the island, the Tigers said in a statement.

It said a "deep penetrating unit" of the Sri Lankan army carried out the killing, but there was no immediate word from the military.

Security forces routinely deny carrying out attacks inside rebel-held territory.

However, troops are leading a major offensive to break through rebel defences in Wanni in a bid to dismantle the guerrillas' de facto mini-state.

Earlier Sunday, the defence ministry claimed its war planes bombed speed boats operated by Tamil Tiger rebels, but the guerrillas said only a village rebuilt after the December 2004 tsunami had been hit.

Aircraft carried out the bombing raid