Monitors condemn Sri Lanka army raid

Friday 06 October 2006, 13:15 Makka Time, 10:15 GMT

Sri Lanka says that Tamil Tigers attacked army positions Truce monitors in Sri Lanka have condemned a push by the army into territory held by the Tamil Tigers.

Sri Lanka's army described its actions in the island's east as "defensive" and said they were intented to "neutralise artillery and mortar fire", military sources said on Friday.

Thorfinnur Omarsson, spokesman of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, said: "It is totally unacceptable if the military penetrate Tiger territory. That is an offensive right after agreeing to talks."

The military said the Tigers had attacked its frontline positions in the eastern district of Batticaloa and in the besieged army-held northern Jaffna peninsula, which is cut off from the rest of the island by Tiger-held territory.

The armed separatist group has threatened to withdraw from the truce completely if attacks by the military continue, but the government says it reserves the right to retaliate if the Tigers attack security forces.

"The Tigers fired artillery and mortars at our forward defence lines, and the military wants to neutralise them and push them back [to the east]," a military source said on condition of anonymity.

The operation comes only weeks after a military offensive to capture rebel territory on the southern lip of the strategic northeastern harbour of Trincomalee.

Sri Lankan forces also described this action as "defensive".

SP Thamilselvan, leader of the Tigers' political wing, said separatists expected little to come out of talks planned for the end of the month, and said violence would spread across the island if attacks by the military continued.

"Although we do not hold high hopes, we are ready to respect the call [for talks] and give it a chance," Thamilselvan said on Friday.

He said: "As far as we are concerned, when our homeland is crushed, and our people's habitats are destroyed, this war will definitely spread throughout the island."

Peace talks

The government says the talks will take place in Geneva on October 28 and 30.

The Tigers wanted the venue to be Oslo, and have not yet agreed on the current chosen location.

Each side accuses the other of trying to rekindle a conflict that has killed more than 65,000 people since 1983, and Nordic truce monitors see little will from either side to halt the violence.

Reuters

22 LTTE men killed in fierce battle

Friday October 6, 2006 - 09:25 EDT. Colombo, Oct 6. A day after the announcement on dates of fresh talks between the Sri Lanka Government and the LTTE, the Sri Lanka military has claimed that at least 22 cadres of the Tamil Tigers were killed in the east in heavy fighting.

A statement by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) said the fighting ensued after LTTE cadres fired mortars and artillery from areas of Panichchankeri and Vakerai areas with ground-based attacks at troops based in Mankerni.

Political and diplomatic observers here are concerned about the continued fighting despite the commitment on both sides to commence fresh round of talks and cease hostilities. As per the announcement made on Thursday, talks would be held on October 28 and 29.

The agreement for talks is outcome of coaxing virtually from the whole world and mounting worries about plight of close to a million displaced in the island nation. According to a western diplomatic if the hostilities do not stop immediately, the proposed talks in Switzerland could be jeopardised.

"The Tigers initiated these offensive attacks at troops at Mankerni area

Heavy clashes in Sri Lanka 's northeast jeopardize new plans for peace talks

Associated Press, Fri October 6, 2006 08:44 EDT COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Heavy clashes broke out between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels in three parts of Sri Lanka's volatile north and east, killing a large number of insurgents and wounding eight soldiers, the military said Friday. ``Sri Lanka's troops launched an operation backed by artillery and air support to gain our territory,'' said rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan. Samarasinghe denied the accusation.

A spokesman for the Nordic cease-fire mission said both sides had filed complaints, accusing the other of starting the fighting.

``It's difficult to say who started first'' because monitors are unable to assess the ground situation given the ongoing fighting, said Thorfinnur Omarsson.

``This is very disappointing as it happened at a time when they had agreed for talks,'' Omarsson said.

In the northern Jaffna Peninsula, six soldiers were wounded Friday when Tamil Tigers fired artillery toward the northern defense line, the military spokesman said.

The air force later launched airstrikes on rebel artillery and mortar positions, Samarasinghe added.

Separately, soldiers destroyed six Tamil Tiger boats off the country's northern coast suspected of transporting fuel, he said.

The boats were destroyed overnight near the sea of Pallaithivu, an islet off the northern Jaffna Peninsula, by the soldiers' artillery fire, he said.

A suspected oil storage facility on the islet also caught fire and was destroyed, he said.

A round of peace talks is planned for Oct. 28 and 29 in Switzerland. The last round of peace talks, aimed at ending two decades of civil war, was held in February.

The rebels agreed to unconditional talks with the government, but warned they would pull out of a 2002 cease-fire accord if the government persists with its military campaign.

The government cautioned it would counter any offensives by the insurgents ahead of the talks.

The Norway-brokered 2002 cease-fire temporarily ended Sri Lanka - 's civil war between the government and the Tamil Tigers, who want to carve out a separate homeland in the north and east for the country's ethnic Tamil minority, citing decades of discrimination by the majority Sinhalese.

About 65,000 people died in the conflict before the truce.

Renewed fighting since late July has left at least another 1,000 combatants and civilians dead, even though both sides say they are still honoring the truce.