S.Lanka truce monitor base hit by grenade attack
Sat Jan 14, 2006 3:02 AM GMT
COLOMBO (Reuters) - Attackers threw a grenade into the compound of truce monitors in Sri Lanka's restive east early on Saturday, damaging vehicles and a building but causing no injuries, officials said, as fears of a return to war grow.
The first direct attack against the monitors since a 2002 cease-fire halted a two-decade civil war came just hours after the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission reprimanded both Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels and the government over a spike in violence.
"A hand grenade was lobbed into our compound in Batticaloa and exploded," said Helen Olafsdottir, spokeswoman for the monitoring mission, known as the SLMM.
"We don't know who was behind it. It is the first time one of our offices has been directly attacked."
On Friday, the unarmed Nordic monitors questioned if there was still a cease-fire to monitor after more than 100 people were killed in December in attacks that have continued into January.
Fears of a return to a war that killed more than 64,000 people are growing in tandem with deadly attacks by suspected rebels on the military and reported abuses by the armed forces of civilians.
Suspected rebels killed nine sailors in an ambush on a main supply route in Sri Lanka's north on Thursday. Similar ambushes killed 39 military personnel in December.
UNDECLARED WAR
Analysts dismiss rebel denials of involvement in the attacks, but say evidence suggests elements in the military are hitting back either directly or by helping renegade rebels target the Tigers, despite their denials.
The military suspects the attack on the truce monitor base was carried out by either the mainstream Tigers headed by shadowy leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, or a renegade faction led by a breakaway commander called Col. Karuna -- which is locked in a bitter feud with the rebels in the east.
"We cannot say if it was the Karuna LTTE or the Prabhakaran LTTE, but it was definitely a terrorist act," said Brig. Athula Jayawardane, head of military operations.
He said troops started to clear roadsides in the north and east at first light after they detained a suspected female rebel trying to plant two deadly claymore fragmentation mines where a military convoy was due to pass in the eastern district of Trincomalee on Friday.
Diplomats and defence experts say both sides are engaged in an undeclared war that has hammered the stock market and could spiral into an all-out conflict that would choke a $20 billion (11 billion pound) economy dependent on textile and tea exports and tourism.
"Killings and serious attacks continue and the situation is getting worse," the truce monitoring group warned on Friday in a statement entitled "SLMM questions whether there is still a cease-fire in Sri Lanka".
The Sri Lankan government has repeatedly said it will not be provoked into resuming war, but new President Mahinda Rajapakse is having to juggle the demands of hardline allies who hate the Tigers and an increasingly frustrated military.
The Tigers have threatened to resume their armed struggle this year unless the government gives them a separate Tamil homeland and wide political powers in the north and east, where they already run a de facto state.
The rebels say they want lasting peace, but also say they are ready to use suicide bombers as in the past if war resumes.
Blast rips through car of Scandinavian monitors in Sri Lanka
Colombo, Jan 13 (PTI) A powerful bomb ripped through a car belonging to Scandinavian truce monitors in Sri Lanka's embattled eastern town of Batticaloa tonight, but there were no casualties, police said.
The explosion occurred when the car was parked at a garage of the Norwegian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM).
Two police constables guarding the premises reported the blast which appeared to have been caused by some device attached to a wheel of the pick-up vehicle, police said.
They said Scandinavian monitors had used the car for about 12 hours and driven it to the garage and parked it there at sunset. Within about six to seven hours, the blast took place.
"An investigation is now underway. The army bomb disposal unit is also started checking the other vehicles there to see if bombs have been planted in them also," a police official in Batticaloa, 300 kilometres east of here, said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility and nor was there any comment from the SLMM.
The blast came hours after the SLMM issued a strong statement pointing a finger at the Tamil Tiger rebels for a latest upsurge in attacks against government forces and also asked the Colombo government to disarm paramilitary units that target the Tigers. PTI
Sri Lankan army avert rebels' claymore mine attack in east
www.chinaview.cn 2006-01-14 12:56:13
COLOMBO, Jan. 14 (Xinhuanet) -- Sri Lanka Army averted a Tamil Tiger rebels claymore mine attack targeting Security Forces vehicles plying on the Anuradhapura Trincomalee road after detecting two claymore mines Friday, Daily News said Saturrday.
The Army and police conducted a search operation in this road after they heard an explosion around 12:40 p.m. when a bus carrying Army personnel passed the area.
Military sources said lives of 20 soldiers were saved as one bus narrowly escaped the claymore mine attack. Following the search operation, Police and Army recovered the two claymore mines.
"Six buses carrying military personnel had passed this area before the Army and Police combined search operation detected the two claymore mines," sources added.
There have been as many as five separate claymore mine explosions conducted by the Tamil tiger rebels in the north and east against the troops since Dec. 1, last year, leaving more than 60 soldiers dead. Enditem
Panel dismisses LTTE's denial of attack on sailors
V.S. Sambandan
Serious blow to the ceasefire: Monitoring Committee
COLOMBO: The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) on Friday dismissed denials by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of involvement in the recent escalation of violence in the northern and eastern districts.
Strongly condemning Thursday's attack on a road convoy of the Sri Lanka Navy, the SLMM described it as "yet another serious blow to the ceasefire agreement (CFA)."
The navy said at least eight sailors were killed in the claymore attack by suspected LTTE cadres.
On the LTTE's denials of its involvement, the SLMM said: "The LTTE claims that `the People' are behind the attacks on the military. SLMM finds this explanation unacceptable. It is safe to say that LTTE involvement cannot be ruled out and we find the LTTE's indifference to these attacks worrying." In a comprehensive statement, the SLMM also wanted the Government and the LTTE to come up with "confidence building measures" and "more commitment" if Sri Lanka was not the relapse into war.
Striking an ominous note, the SLMM said it "believed that if such attacks or retaliation of such attacks continue, the CFA will be over."
Situation getting worse
Pointing out that "over 100 persons were killed last month, half of which were civilians," the SLMM said "the situation is getting worse," and that "it is our assessment that if the parties [the Government and the LTTE] don't react immediately, they risk going back to war."
The SLMM, comprising Nordic ceasefire monitors, has been in place since the CFA came into force in 2002.
Lankan refugees spark security fears in TN
Saturday, January 14, 2006 (Rameswaram):
The recent suicide attack by Tamil Tigers on a Sri Lankan navy vessel has put peace talks under pressure.
The attack came at a time when the country is on the brink of yet another war.
While the fragile peace between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government has been threatened, the repercussions are being felt in Tamil Nadu's Rameswaram town.
After a gap of three years, refugees have begun to arrive here on a daily basis. Nineteen-year-old Kausalya and her family were literally smuggled into Tamil Nadu on a fishing boat from the Mannar region of Sri Lanka for Rs 10,000.
They fear that another conflict might break out like the one in the late eighties that forced over two lakh Lankan Tamils to seek asylum in Tamil Nadu.
"Our life was under great risk there," said Kausalya.
"We are too scared. The army men fire at us, kill little children and commit crime against women," added Sivabagiyam, another Sri Lankan refugee.
High security
The move has sent shock waves among Rameswaram fishermen. Recently one of them was injured when the Lankan Navy opened fire.
The Indian Navy and the Coast Guard have also stepped up security along the international boundary line.
While the Tamil Nadu government has demanded the retrieval of fishing rights at Katchathhevu, the police are taking no chances.
A war in Sri Lanka appears to be imminent and the possibility of a large influx of refugees heading to Rameswaram looms large.
Elections are just round the corner and this could turn into a serious security issue both for the state and central governments.
Peace monitors pressure Tiger rebels
The Island
Publication Date : 2006-01-14
The Norwegian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) yesterday (Jan 13) said they could no longer accept the Tiger rebels' denials over a wave of claymore mine attacks on government troops. It also pointed a finger at the government for failing to act against Paramilitary groups which targeted the Tigers.
Ten sailors were killed in an Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) mine attack on Thursday (Jan 11) raising the number of government troops killed by the terrorist outfit to 76 in the last month.
"Various actors in the international community have blamed the LTTE for attacking government troops but the LTTE has continuously denied any involvement," the SLMM said in a statement.
"The LTTE claims that 'the People' are behind the attacks on the military. SLMM finds this explanation unacceptable. It is safe to say that LTTE involvement cannot be ruled out, and we find the LTTE's indifference to these attacks worrying. Killings and serious attacks continue and the situation is getting worse. It is our assessment that if the parties don't react immediately, they risk going back to war," the SLMM said.
The monitors blamed the paramilitary groups of destabilising the ceasefire and said the two sides need to come up with confidence building measures with the "truthful aim of reaching a peaceful solution."
"Actions speak louder than words, and we feel that we need to see more commitment from the two parties if war is not to break out in Sri Lanka," the monitors said.
Meanwhile, a policeman on foot patrol and a civilian were injured when an LTTE cadre lobbed a bomb at the policeman near the Kopay Police Station yesterday afternoon.
The LTTE cadre had fled immediately after attacking the policeman. The injured have been admitted to the Jaffna hospital, police sources in Jaffna said.
