Associated Press, Wed March 28, 2007 04:27 EDT . DILIP GANGULY - Associated Press Writer - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Sri Lankan troops have driven separatist Tamil rebels from a key base in eastern Sri Lanka, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday, amid calls for peace talks by the government and United Nations to end the bloodshed. Sri Lanka's government, meanwhile, renewed an offer to hold peace talks with the rebels following two days of dramatic rebel assaults, including a suicide bombing and the insurgents' first air strike in their more than two-decade campaign for a separate Tamil homeland.
The attacks Monday and Tuesday killed 11 people and wounded 36, prompting the government to issue a call for peace talks.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also urged the two sides to ``break this vicious cycle of attack and retaliation'' and ``return to the negotiating table as soon as possible, without preconditions.''
The rebels have not responded to the government's suggestion.
Earlier Tuesday, a rebel drove an explosives-laden tractor toward the Chinkaladi military camp in Batticaloa, drawing fire from guards that triggered a blast. The insurgent, three soldiers guarding the gate and five civilians were killed in the blast, Samarasinghe said. Twenty people were wounded in the attack.
The attacks came a day after at least one rebel propeller plane bombed a Sri Lankan air force base outside the capital, Colombo, in the separatists' first ever airstrike. Three airmen were killed and 16 wounded, but there was no damage to aircraft, officials said.
The rebels launched their fight for an independent homeland for the country's 3.1 million Tamils in 1983 after decades of discrimination by the majority Sinhalese. In the years since, they have pioneered the use of suicide bomb belts and slowly built up a navy of small gunboats.
Hopes for peace that followed a 2002 cease-fire have been dashed in the past 18 months as sporadic shootings and bombings have grown into all-out war in eastern and northern Sri Lanka - , where the Tigers want to establish their separate state.
An estimated 65,000 people were killed in fighting before the cease-fire, and at least 4,000 fighters and civilians are estimated to have died in the last 18 months.
Sri Lankan gov't ready to hold talks with rebels
Xinhua, March 28. The Sri Lankan government said Tuesday that it is still open to have talks with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) despite the latter's aerial attack on the country's main military base on Monday. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told reporters here that the government's meeting with the LTTE "has been independent of all incidents." Bogollagama said Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse is very positive for a negotiated settlement to the island country's ethnic issue. "Our offer to talk with the LTTE is very old and the offer is still there," said the foreign minister.
Sri Lanka shows air capability after rebel attack
Xinhua, March 28. The Sri Lankan Air Force carried out air raids against Tamil Tiger positions in the island's north and east on Tuesday in a demonstration of its air capability after a Tamil Tiger attack on the main air base.
