Sri Lanka resumes air strikes against Tigers
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
New Delhi, June 16, IRNA
SLanka-Strikes-LTTE
The Sri Lankan airforce resumed aerial strikes against suspected Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam positions Friday ahead of plans for a mass funeral for 64 people killed in a bus bombing suspected to be carried out by the rebels Thursday.
Supersonic jets attacked rebel stronghold in the northern and eastern regions of the island, PTI report said here quoting a Lankan military official. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The airstrikes came as government officials released the bodies of the 64 people killed in Thursday's claymore mine attack in an overcrowded civilian bus in the north-central district of
Anuradhapura.
President Mahinda Rajapakse visited the area Thursday and ordered the immediate release of compensation to the families, officials said.
The state will meet the funeral expenses and pay compensation to the families of the victims, a government official in the area said.
Meanwhile, international condemnation of the bombing continued while urging the parties to revive their faltering peace process.
Diplomatic sources close to the peace process said the Tiger bombings and retaliatory strikes had the potential to further escalate the conflict.
Sri Lanka's share prices fell by three per cent Thursday amid fears that the island was heading back to full-scale hostilities and the central bank Friday increased its policy interest rates to apply brakes on inflation.
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