posted July 06, 2000 09:16 AM            

The clandestine radio of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said the group commemorated 188 Black Tiger suicide bombers who have died since the first kamikaze-style bombing on July 5, 1987.

The rebel radio said Thursday that shops were closed in areas held by the guerrillas in the north of the country on Wednesday as they held religious observances and conducted public rallies to mark Black Tiger day.

The Tigers staged their first kamikaze-style attack on July 5, 1987 when a rebel known as Captain Miller drove a truck packed with explosives and devastated the Nelliyadi army camp in the Jaffna peninsula, killing 39 soldiers.

The rebel radio said commemorative ceremonies were held in rebel-held areas of the north on Black Tiger day.

The Tiger radio also said that they lost 30 of their fighters in the army's latest offensive in the Vadamarachchi sector of the Jaffna peninsula on Tuesday.

Another three cadres, including a senior woman fighter, died in a gun battle elsewhere in the peninsula, the rebel radio said. It did not give details of military casualties in the latest battles.

The Tigers staged their latest suicide bombing in Colombo on June 7 when they assassinated Industry Minister C. V. Gooneratne during a public parade near the capital.

On June 26, the Tigers deployed six Black Tigers to sink a merchant vessel off the island's northern waters.

The Black Tigers attracted international attention in 1991 when they were blamed for the assassination of former Indian premier Rajiv Gandhi.

A woman strapped with explosives blasted herself and Gandhi to pieces during an election rally in the Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu on May 21,

Within rebel ranks it is a privilege to be a suicide bomber, according to the guerrillas. The perks include a supper with Tamil Tiger supremo, Velupillai Prabhakaran, who considers them the "protective armour" of Tamils.

A woman suicide bomber detonated explosives carried in her handbag at a meeting attended by President Chandrika Kumaratunga at the Colombo Town Hall grounds on December 18.

The president escaped assassination but lost her right eye, while 26 people were killed and 110 were wounded.

Eighteen days later on January 5, the Tigers struck again, this time opposite the office of the prime minister, Kumaratunga's mother.

The January 5 blast, carried out by a woman, killed 11, including four security personnel assigned to protect Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike.

The rebels failed again on March 2 when they mounted an attack on the top military commander in the northeastern district of Trincomalee, Colonel Piyal Abeysekara. Instead, they killed his driver.

It is probably because of this string of failures that the Tigers deployed a large group of suicide bombers for a single operation in Colombo on March 10, police said.

The March 10 strike along the Ceremonial Drive leading to the Sri Lankan parliament was carried out by eight Black Tigers who staged bomb attacks and fought street battles with troops, but failed to hit a high-profile target.