Gunmen kill 56 border villagers

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 September 1999, 03:11 GMT]
More than 56 villagers were killed by gunmen who attacked three border villages in the Ampara district in southeastern Sri Lanka in the early hours of the morning today. Houses were also set on fire by the attackers, Police sources in Ampara said.

The gunmen had killed civilians in the villages of Borapola in Uhana, Bedi Rekka in Maha Oya and Sinnawatta near the Batticaloa district border.

Sri Lankan security forces who rushed to these remote villages have so far recovered 56 bodies, 45 in Borapola and 11 in Bedi Rekka, sources said.

The Police said the Liberation Tigers had carried out these attacks in retaliation to the Sri Lanka Air Force bombing of a crowded market place in northern Sri Lanka on Wednesday.