Lankan Tigers call air strikes a 'blatant ceasefire violation'
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
New Delhi, July 27, IRNA
Sri Lanka-LTTE-Air Strikes
Condemning the Wednesday Sri Lankan air force bombings on rebels area, the Tamil Tigers asserted that such ir strikes are violation of the country's ceasefire and claimed that attacks wounded two civilians.
"This is a blatant ceasefire violation," S Elilan, a top Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam official said, Doordarshan News reported here today.
The military launched the air strikes on Wednesday in a rebel- controlled district of Trincomalee district in northeastern Sri Lanka where guerrillas had blocked government engineers from examining a disabled water plant.
Meanwhile the Lankan government said it would continue efforts to send in engineers to reopen the water facility, which serves people in both rebel- and government-controlled areas.
The Tigers halted its flow of water after accusing the government of failing to keep a promise to construct a water tower in the area.
Two civilians were wounded and two houses destroyed in the ir strikes, said Elilan. The rebels suffered no casualties.
"Our position is very simple. The LTTE has no right to stop water flow," chief government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told.
The blockade has left more than 15,000 families without water to irrigate rice crops -- the main livelihood of the area's residents.
A government statement, referring to the air raids, said the "limited operation" was conducted purely on "humanitarian grounds" to neutralize the disruptive forces it said were preventing the free flow of water.
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