Islamabad - The suspected mastermind of last week's terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team managed to flee when police raided his apartment in eastern city of Lahore on Monday, according to a television report said.

Mohammad Aqeel, a member of an Islamic militant outfit, is believed to have planned the ambush on the convoy carrying Sri Lankan players to a stadium in Lahore last Tuesday. Eight people, including six policemen, died and seven members of the cricket team were injured in the attack.

Colombo  - Sri Lankan government troops Monday claimed to have killed at least 200 Tamil rebels and recovered 150 bodies during fierce fighting over the past five days.

The Defence Ministry in a statement said heavy fighting broke out last Thursday in parts of Mullaitivu district, 390 kilometres north- east of the capital Colombo, which represent the last remaining areas held by the rebels.

The army has thrown in special forces and commando troops and has seized a large haul of weapons in its operations, the Defence Ministry added.

Chennai, Mar 9 : Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who heads the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), accused United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the Tamil Nadu Government for the genocidal attack on Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Jayalalithaa expressed these views in Chennai on Monday while addressing the media at a spot where she and her party volunteers undertook hunger strike as a mark of protest against Sri Lankan atrocities on Tamilians.

Colombo - Tamil rebels fired on a government ship delivering food and
supplies for displaced civilians in north-eastern Sri Lanka on Monday,
a military spokesman said.

Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said the ship was unloading flour, lentils,
sugar and fuel when it came under artillery attack at a port in
Puthumathalan, in the Mullaitivu district, 410 kilometres north-east of
Colombo.

He said artillery shells fell as close as 50 metres from the ship,
forcing the captain to order a halt to the delivery and return to a

Colombo, Mar, 9 : The umpires' minivan which was traveling behind the bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team, was virtually abandoned by the security personnel when bullets rained from all directions during the terror attack.

Umpires performance manager Peter Manuel, who was inside the van with Umpires Simon Toffel, Steve Davis, Nadhim Gouri, Ahsan Raza, ICC match referee Chris Broad, and liaison officer Abdul Sami, has said that they were left alone by their security officers during the attack.

Colombo  - Tamil rebels suffered heavy setbacks trying to breach army lines in north-eastern Sri Lanka, losing over 100 of their men in two days of fighting, army officials claimed on Sunday.

Rebels attacked Sri Lankan army outposts around Mullaitituv in a bid to stop the government forces reaching the last rebel-dominated areas, but were forced to withdraw, the army said.

The military released pictures of dead rebel fighters, some wearing suicide bomber jackets.