Navy attack 'kills 50 Tamils'

COLOMBO (Reuter) - Sri Lankan Tamil politicians said yesterday that at least 50 people were missing, presumed dead, after the navy's attack last week on civilians trying to cross a lagoon.

Two MPs from the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front have called for an inquiry into Saturday's attack in which at least 14 civilians were killed when patrol boats attacked a flotilla trying to cross a lagoon separating the Tamil rebel-controlled northern Jaffna peninsula from mainland Sri Lanka.

A military spokesman said the boats were being used by Tamil rebels before the navy attacked.