21 killed in fresh clashes in Sri Lanka
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
New Delhi, Aug 3, IRNA
Sri Lanka-Fresh Clashes
At least 17 civilians and four policemen were killed on Thursday in artillery attacks in Sri Lanka's northeastern Muslim-majority town of Muttur, military officials said.
Local residents of Muttur had moved to public buildings, including schools, for their safety, but a shell hit one Muslim school building, killing 10 people and wounding at least 50, the Defense Ministry said in a statement in Colombo, PTI report said here.
It said the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had fired the shell, a charge denied by the guerrillas who in turn accused the military of carrying out the attack.
Another five civilians were killed and 10 wounded when the Tigers hit the Al-Noori college at Thoppur, near Muttur where they also attacked a school -- Al Hameema, killing two civilians, the military said.
They said that the Tigers were trying to bring down artillery on military camps within Muttur, but were missing by large margins and hitting civilian targets.
Two constables and two para-military men attached to the local Muttur police were also killed in the clashes today, officials said.
The Defense Ministry said the shell that killed the civilians came from the Tigers, while the Tigers website said the attack had been initiated by the military.
The latest deaths raised to at least 156 the number of people killed since the military launched an offensive eight days ago to lift a water blockade imposed by the Tigers depriving water to some 15,000 families.
2160/2322/1414
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
