Sri Lankan air force strikes rebel sea base as government discusses peace

Associated Press, Thu August 24, 2006 03:05 EDT . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Sri Lanka - 's air force launched strikes on a Tamil Tiger rebel sea base in the northeast Thursday in an operation the military described as ``successful.'' There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. A recent escalation of violence between government forces and the insurgents has returned Sri Lanka - to a war footing, with some of the fiercest fighting since the two sides signed a cease-fire four years ago.

Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera told Parliament during a debate on the conflict Wednesday that since then, other rebel leaders have broken promises to end the violence.

Rambukwella, the government spokesman, said any new cease-fire agreement would need to have clear conditions written into it, such as restricting the Tigers' access to the sea.

``We have areas that are very vulnerable and we cannot have them pounding our naval headquarters in eastern Trincomalee,'' he said.

Military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe earlier said there were no major incidents overnight in the northern Jaffna Peninsula, which the insurgents made a major push to recapture on Aug. 11.

In the east, suspected rebels fired at an army checkpoint early Thursday in Batticaloa district, injuring one soldier, while a police officer was killed by a mine explosion overnight in eastern Valachchenai, he said. ``It was a quiet night,'' Samarasinghe said.

The Tigers have been fighting for over 20 years for a separate homeland for the country's ethnic minority Tamils. More than 65,000 people have been killed in the insurgency.

The 2002 cease-fire temporarily halted the bloodshed, but the past few months have seen renewed fighting in the north and east, where the rebels want to establish their separate state.

Hundreds of people have been killed in the recent violence and tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced, prompting local and international aid agencies to warn of a growing humanitarian crisis.

The international community has called for an immediate end to the hostilities and a return to the peace process that faltered earlier this year when the rebels refused to attend a round of peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland.

Samaraweera accused the Tigers of initiating the renewed fighting in late June by blocking a water source supplying thousands of people living in government-controlled areas. The move prompted the military to launch its first ground offensive since the 2002 cease-fire.

The Tigers say they acted because the government had failed to honor a promise to provide water to rebel-held areas, and that the government turned the water dispute into a ``military issue.''