'Tigresses' kill 18 in attack on police camp

Women rebels attacked a Sri Lankan police camp before dawn today, killing 16 policemen, two civilians and wounding 18 others.

Police said that seven rebels were also killed and nine were wounded in the Tamil Tigers first major operation since they attacked the country’s only international airport and an adjoining air base near the capital, Colombo, a month ago.

That attack left 20 people dead, destroyed 12 aircraft, and hurt the island country’s economy, because tourism has slackened and shipping lines have become reluctant to call in Sri Lankan ports.

Today’s attack in Ampara, 125 miles east of Colombo, was repelled after the Sri Lankan army and commandos from an anti-terrorist unit were called in, said military spokesman Brigadier Sanath Karunaratne.

Hours after the attack, the Sri Lankan air force bombed rebel camps in the northern Jaffna Peninsula.

In Ampara, the main armoury at the camp, which may have been the main target of the rebels, was safe, he said, but the rebels took 29 T-56 rifles from a smaller armoury in the camp.

The camp was being guarded by about 40 policemen when the rebels from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam launched the attack, said a local police official.

The raiding party consisted of mostly women, who came in four tractors generally used by farmers in the rice-growing area.

They hurled grenades and entered the camp firing indiscriminately, said the official.

"When the camp officials realised that it was a major attack, they called for help and we moved in," Karunaratne said.

The rebels are fighting to create a homeland for the country’s minority Tamils, saying they suffer discrimination by the Sinhalese, who comprise 14 million of Sri Lanka’s 18.6 million people.

The Government denies the charge.

More than 64,000 people have died in the 18-year-old conflict.