Sri Lanka Hits Tigers After Suicide Blast Kills 9
Reuters
Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:56 PM BST
By Peter Apps
COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's military attacked Tamil Tiger rebel targets on Tuesday in retaliation after a suicide attack on the army's headquarters that killed nine, as the island's truce seemed to be unravelling.
Earlier in the day, a suspected Black Tiger suicide bomber pretending to be pregnant blew herself up in an attack on the army's commander, bringing violence that had been confined to the north and east to the capital.
The government said strikes on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) did not mean an immediate return to a two-decade civil war but it was the first official military action on the rebels since a 2002 truce.
"The LTTE did something this afternoon that clearly breached the cease-fire," head of the government peace secretariat, Palitha Kohona, told Reuters. "The government had to act. We still hope that the LTTE will decide to come to talks."
President Mahinda Rajapakse was due to address the nation at 1600 GMT.
About 110 people have died in the bloodiest two weeks since the Norwegian-brokered cease-fire halted the civil war that killed more than 64,000, with the rebels still keen to win their goal of a Tamil homeland in the island's north and east.
Peace talks seen as a way to halt the violence were supposed to take place in Geneva this week but talks arrangements became deadlocked on over how to transport a group of eastern rebel commanders to attend a pre-talks meeting.
But the rebels' real complaint is what they say is government complicity with a breakaway rebel group in the east attacking the mainstream Tigers.
FIGHTER JETS
The Tiger political leader in the northeastern district of Trincomalee, S.S. Elilan, told Reuters that his territory had been hit by bombs from Israeli-built Kfir fighter jets and shelling. He said he had no estimate on casualties.
With mediator Norway still trying to secure talks in Switzerland amid spiralling ethnic violence and tension, the unarmed Nordic mission monitoring the battered truce had called for restraint. They confirmed the military assault.
"Air strikes are confirmed, bombing and gunfire from Trincomalee naval base is confirmed," Swedish Major-General Ulf Henricsson, head of the Nordic mission monitoring the 2002 cease-fire, told Reuters.
"My assessment -- which is also my hope -- is that this is a limited retaliatory strike for today's attack."
Both the Tiger attack and the government retaliation were acts of war, said Jehan Perera, head of think-tank the National Peace Council.
"Our hope is that it will stop but escalatory dynamics are very difficult to stop once they are put in motion," he said.
The Tigers would not comment on whether they were behind the suicide bombing but they have a long history of launching such attacks.
The military said Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, a decorated combat veteran who said the truce was too soft on the rebels, had been undergoing surgery but was out of danger after the blast.
The army said eight people -- in addition to the bomber -- both civilian and military, had been killed and 27 wounded inside army headquarters, one of the most secure places in the country. Army photos showed bodies covered with plastic sheeting, and body parts strewn around.
The Colombo All-Share Index fell more than 3 percent after the blast, before recovering a little to close down 2.33 percent.
"Tomorrow there will be more panic selling and people will get emotional," said stockbroker Harsha Fernando before the government retaliation. "Twenty years of war have brought us nothing. We have to talk."
(Additional reporting by Lindsay Beck and Peter Apps)
Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:56 PM BST
By Peter Apps
COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's military attacked Tamil Tiger rebel targets on Tuesday in retaliation after a suicide attack on the army's headquarters that killed nine, as the island's truce seemed to be unravelling.
Earlier in the day, a suspected Black Tiger suicide bomber pretending to be pregnant blew herself up in an attack on the army's commander, bringing violence that had been confined to the north and east to the capital.
The government said strikes on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) did not mean an immediate return to a two-decade civil war but it was the first official military action on the rebels since a 2002 truce.
"The LTTE did something this afternoon that clearly breached the cease-fire," head of the government peace secretariat, Palitha Kohona, told Reuters. "The government had to act. We still hope that the LTTE will decide to come to talks."
President Mahinda Rajapakse was due to address the nation at 1600 GMT.
About 110 people have died in the bloodiest two weeks since the Norwegian-brokered cease-fire halted the civil war that killed more than 64,000, with the rebels still keen to win their goal of a Tamil homeland in the island's north and east.
Peace talks seen as a way to halt the violence were supposed to take place in Geneva this week but talks arrangements became deadlocked on over how to transport a group of eastern rebel commanders to attend a pre-talks meeting.
But the rebels' real complaint is what they say is government complicity with a breakaway rebel group in the east attacking the mainstream Tigers.
FIGHTER JETS
The Tiger political leader in the northeastern district of Trincomalee, S.S. Elilan, told Reuters that his territory had been hit by bombs from Israeli-built Kfir fighter jets and shelling. He said he had no estimate on casualties.
With mediator Norway still trying to secure talks in Switzerland amid spiralling ethnic violence and tension, the unarmed Nordic mission monitoring the battered truce had called for restraint. They confirmed the military assault.
"Air strikes are confirmed, bombing and gunfire from Trincomalee naval base is confirmed," Swedish Major-General Ulf Henricsson, head of the Nordic mission monitoring the 2002 cease-fire, told Reuters.
"My assessment -- which is also my hope -- is that this is a limited retaliatory strike for today's attack."
Both the Tiger attack and the government retaliation were acts of war, said Jehan Perera, head of think-tank the National Peace Council.
"Our hope is that it will stop but escalatory dynamics are very difficult to stop once they are put in motion," he said.
The Tigers would not comment on whether they were behind the suicide bombing but they have a long history of launching such attacks.
The military said Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, a decorated combat veteran who said the truce was too soft on the rebels, had been undergoing surgery but was out of danger after the blast.
The army said eight people -- in addition to the bomber -- both civilian and military, had been killed and 27 wounded inside army headquarters, one of the most secure places in the country. Army photos showed bodies covered with plastic sheeting, and body parts strewn around.
The Colombo All-Share Index fell more than 3 percent after the blast, before recovering a little to close down 2.33 percent.
"Tomorrow there will be more panic selling and people will get emotional," said stockbroker Harsha Fernando before the government retaliation. "Twenty years of war have brought us nothing. We have to talk."
(Additional reporting by Lindsay Beck and Peter Apps)
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