Thousands flee from Sri Lanka offensive: rebels

by Amal Jayasinghe

2 hours, 44 minutes ago

COLOMBO (AFP) - Sri Lanka launched attacks against Tiger rebels as the guerrillas said thousands of civilians in the north fled their homes on fears of an upsurge of fighting in the region.

Troops in Trincomalee attacked suspected Tiger positions and residents reported hearing shelling throughout he day. The reports came on the eve of the fifth anniversary of a truce that is holding only on paper.

Military officials confirmed they were retaliating against rebel harassment, but said there was no major offensive in the region, although residents said they heard long-range artillery fire.

The attacks also came as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said thousands of Tamil civilians in the northern Wanni region had fled their homes fearing a fresh military offensive against rebel-held territory.

The rebel LTTE said thousands of men, women and children from half a dozen villages along the de facto border line between the two sides were on the move and seeking refuge deeper inside rebel territory.

"About a thousand families out of 3,500 have already become refugees," LTTE spokeswoman N. Selvy said by telephone from the rebels' political headquarters in Kilinochchi, 330 kilometres (206 miles) north of here.

"People are afraid after recent Claymore (mine) attacks carried out by the Sri Lankan military," she said, adding the Tamil residents feared security forces could launch a fresh attack along rebel defence lines.

On Wednesday, 25 Tamil civilians carrying white flags entered a government-held area in the northern district of Vavuniya and were provided with shelter and meals by the troops, a military official said.

An exodus of civilians from the island's troubled regions is usually a first sign of stepped up fighting between troops and Tamil Tiger guerrillas who are campaigning for independence.

Troops last month dismantled a de facto local government run by the guerrillas at Vakarai and indicated they were planning to move towards rebel strongholds elsewhere in the island's north.

The escalation of fighting in the past year has claimed nearly 4,000 lives and tattered a ceasefire arranged and put in place by peacebroker Norway since February 23, 2002.

At least five people were killed on Thursday in clashes linked to the conflict, police said.

Norway's top peacebroker, Erik Solheim, Thursday offered to go the extra mile to revive peace talks, even as thousands of Sinhalese nationalists took to the streets here calling for the truce to be scrapped.

Solheim, who is also Norway's international development minister, expressed the hope that Sri Lanka's government and the LTTE would recognise the need to implement the truce.

"It is my strong hope that both parties will recognise the need to secure the full implementation of the ceasefire agreement as a first step toward reaching a political solution," Solheim said in a statement.

He said Norway remained in regular contact with the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE, despite the failure of the last meeting between the warring parties in October.

"Norway is willing to go the extra mile to assist their peace endeavours at their request," Solheim said. "As soon as the parties renew their peace efforts, we will be ready to do all we can to help."

More than 60,000 people have been killed in the island's 35-year-old Tamil separatist campaign.

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