COLOMBO, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lanka government said Friday it will launch a probe into a massacre of some 400 policemen by the rebel Tamil Tigers 18 years ago.

    The National Security Media Center said in a statement that a probe would soon commence on the massacre of 401 policemen in the Eastern Province on June 11, 1990.

    "Some 401 unarmed policemen were massacred by the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) in the Batticaloa, Ampara and Trincomalee areas," the MCNS statement said.

    The government was also blaming the main opposition United National Party (UNP) for the killing of the policemen.

    The UNP was the ruling party then. The statement alleged that the policemen were ordered by the government to surrender to the LTTE as part of an agreement between the then government and the LTTE.

    There was no immediate response from the UNP to the government's statement.