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Sri Lanka launches air strikes in north, east
B. Muralidhar Reddy
| The target is an illegal airstrip under construction by the LTTE |
INTENSE COMBING: An Air force gunner searches the area close to the site of killings at Omadiamadu, a remote hamlet which borders territory held by Tamil Tiger rebels northeast of Colombo.
COLOMBO: In the last 24 hours, Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) has launched two separate aerial strikes in the north and east targeting an alleged illegal airstrip under construction and a camp of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam who have reportedly closed the sluice gate of a water source.
A statement by the military said on Thursday that SLAF aircraft on Thursday struck selected LTTE targets to the east of Mullaittivu where the LTTE was constructing another illegal airstrip.
It further said SLAF on Wednesday afternoon conducted air strikes on known Tiger targets in the general areas of Verugal, Trincomalee where the LTTE is keeping the sluice gate closed without allowing water to flow into thousands of Sinhalese, Muslim and Tamil villages.
The military said hundreds of affected people from the area staged protests in Kallar junction against the LTTE's denial of water for their survival and agrarian work. "The limited air strikes were aimed at dislodging those terrorists in Verugal areas where they are gathered blocking sluice gates."
However, TamilNet said Dvora Fast Attack Crafts of the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) on Thursday morning attacked fishing vessels off Mullaithivu coast in LTTE controlled territory. It said one fisherman, a tsunami survivor, escaped narrowly from the attack, but lost his Don Bosco-gifted boat and nets.
On Wednesday's incident, the LTTE said the SLAF Kfir jets bombed Mavilaru site in Vakarai, where `protesting Tamil civilians' had closed water supply running through LTTE controlled areas towards the Government controlled area. "The protesters were demanding Colombo not to abandon the project to supply drinking water to Tamil areas," said S. Elilan, LTTE Trincomalee District political head. It claimed that even as truce monitors intervened and mediated between the Tigers and Colombo the SLAF has bombed the area. "We have now decided to reconsider our decision of lifting the water blockade," Mr. Elilan said.
In a related development United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) António Guterres said he has received a `positive response' from the Government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers on an action plan by his agency for confidence building measures to address a host of issues related to internally displaced people (IDPs).
Rounding up the first ever three-day visit to the island nation, Mr. Guterres said at a news conference here that the focus of the action plan is to put in place mechanisms for a `human rights approach' in dealing with problems of an estimated 3.14 lakh IDPs in Sri Lanka. He said the `right of IDPs to return' is an important component of the action plan. In the course of his visit, Mr. Guterres met among others Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, representatives of his Government and leaders of the Tamil Tigers at Kilinochchi. He met displaced people in the north and east for a first-hand account of their concerns and needs.
In Sri Lanka, the UNHCR activities are centred on providing protection for an estimated 3,14,400 internally displaced people, some of whom have been out of their homes for more than 20 years.
According to U.N. estimates since April this year, some 50,000 people have fled their homes in Sri Lanka because of renewed violence and are now living mainly in neighbouring communities in Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Puttalam and in the north of the country.
Mr. Guterres said he made it a point to keep his travel schedule to Sri Lanka despite the current situation in Lebanon.
In response to a question on the latest air raids conducted by the Sri Lanka Air Force in the north and east, the High Commissioner refused to be drawn into a debate on the subject on the plea that "one incident leads to another and conflict escalates." He said restraint is the need of the hour to avoid escalation of tensions. "It is absolutely necessary to preserve the fragile peace process."
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