LTTE blasts oil-tanker

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, OCT. 30. An oil-tanker with 28 persons on board was ablaze and sinking in Sri Lanka's northern seas after an attack by a suicide boat of the LTTE at dusk today.

Officials said the Sri Lankan Navy had rescued all the 12 crew and 13 of the 16 naval personnel on board.

The tanker, mt Silk Route, was sailing from the eastern port of Trincomalee to the Kankesanthurai harbour in Jaffna peninsula. The boat rammed it 12 nautical miles off Point Pedro, the military spokesman, Brigadier Sanath Karunaratne, said.

It was carrying 225 mts (metric tonnes) of low-sulphur diesel, 160 mts of kerosene and 275 mts of auto diesel for Jaffna peninsula. Both troops and civilians depend on ships to bring them supplies of essential items from the mainland.

The spokesman said the navy personnel on board were detailed for its security. The attack came a day after a suicide bomber of the LTTE blew himself up in the capital, killing four persons, and as military officials warned of a possible increase in attacks by them, particularly in north-east Sri Lanka, in the run-up to the December 5 general election.

'Protect civilians in Afghanistan'

The Sri Lankan President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, in her capacity as Chairperson of the South Asian Association for Regional Co- operation (SAARC), today called for protecting civilians in the U.S.-led military action against Afghanistan.

``It is vital that civilians be protected against collateral harm and that humanitarian assistance be extended to innocent people whose lives are being affected,'' she said in a statement released by the Foreign Ministry here.

The cautiously worded statement said the necessity for action against military targets was ``well understood and appreciated'' and that all the South Asian countries had strongly condemned the September 11 attacks in the U.S.

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Section  : International
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