Sri Lanka says jets bomb rebel leaders in north
Source: Reuters
By Ranga Sirilal COLOMBO, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan fighter jets bombed a Tamil Tiger military base in the rebel-held far north on Friday triggering multiple explosions, the air force said, the second such strike in as many days. The raid near the town of Puthukkudiyiruppu in the northern district of Mullaittivu was targeted at top leaders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. "We got to know through intelligence there was a high ranking meeting of the LTTE, so we took the target," said Air Force spokesman Group Captain Ajantha De Silva. "It was an LTTE military complex called Imbran Pandian regiment." He had no details of any casualties. The LTTE who say they are fighting for an independent state for minority ethnic Tamils in the north and east, were not immediately available for comment. There was no independent confirmation of what the jets hit, how many people were killed or what had happened and analysts say both sides exaggerate enemy losses amid a parallel propaganda war. Following another raid in the area on Thursday, in which the military said it destroyed a rebel munitions store, the Tigers said the bombs had damaged houses and wounded six civilians. The bombings come on the heels of a new offensive launched by the Sri Lankan military this month to drive the rebels from the northwestern district of Mannar, after pushing them out from jungle terrain they controlled in the east earlier this year. An estimated 5,000 people have died since early last year alone in renewed fighting after a peace process collapsed. Nearly 70,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced since the war erupted in 1983.
| AlertNet news is provided by |










