Sri Lankan air force 'bombs Tamil rebels'
Sri Lanka's air force today launched a second day of strikes on Tamil Tiger rebel positions in the country’s north, a day after a bus bombing blamed on the rebels killed 64 people.
The rebels said the airstrikes showed the government was on a war footing, while the country's president said he remained committed to the 2002 ceasefire accord despite the bus attack.
Air force jets dropped bombs in the area around the northern rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi, rebel leader Seevaratnam Puleedevan said. He did not cite casualty figures.
“They are carrying out attacks. At least eight bombs have been dropped since dawn today,” Puleedevan said. “I think the Sri Lankan government, by launching the air raids, is showing that they are ready for war.
“We are assessing the ground situation and our Central Command will take appropriate action,” he said.
Dangerously tense relations between the rebels and the government deteriorated further yesterday when suspected rebels triggered hidden explosives on a bus in a predominantly ethnic Sinhalese area, killing 64 people in the worst violence since the ceasefire.
The Sri Lankan air force began retaliatory attacks on rebel positions hours afterwards.
Sri Lanka's president said he remained committed to making peace with the Tamil Tigers despite the bus attack.
“We will not let this incident, however barbaric it is, sabotage the peace process. We are deeply committed to the peace process,” President Mahinda Rajapakse said.
