Sri Lanka launches air raids against LTTE
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
New Delhi, July 26, IRNA
Sri Lanka-Tigers-Air Raids
Sri Lankan Air Force jets pounded suspected Tamil Tiger positions in north-eastern parts of the country on Wednesday after the guerrillas allegedly closed sluice gates of an irrigation tank there, a military spokesman said.
Jet fighters bombed camps on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the troubled district of Trincomalee to help an effort to restore water to 1,500 farmers, PTI report said here quoting Keheliya Rambukwella.
"Aircraft carried out several bombings purely as a humanitarian gesture to support the movement of irrigation engineers who went there to open the gates," he said.
He said the engineers could not go without military escorts while the troops needed air support.
It is the first air attack in two months in the area after the May bombing of Tiger targets when the rebels were held responsible by the government for blowing up a civilian bus and killing 64 passengers.
In a statement earlier Wednesday, the government's Peace Secretariat said it had repeatedly asked the LTTE, through the Norwegian peace brokers and truce monitors, to restore the water supply to over 1,500 people in Trincomalee district.
"The government of Sri Lanka has also raised the matter with the diplomatic community and international organisations," the statement said.
"There is agreement that the denial of water to civilians by the LTTE is a blatant contravention of all norms of civilized behavior and the rules of international law."
Peace broker Norway is set to send a special envoy here early next month in a bid to save the collapsing truce between the two sides.
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