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Deterrent strikes on in Sri Lanka

V.S. Sambandan

Rajapakse firm on peace process

COLOMBO: Deterrent strikes by the security forces continued for the second day on Friday morning following Thursday's claymore mine explosion, which killed 64 civilians and injured 84, in Anuradhapura district. "They took two or three targets. These are limited operations," military spokesperson Prasad Samarasinghe told The Hindu .

He refused to specify the locations. "All I can say is that they are in the north and east," Brig. Samarasinghe said. There were no figures of casualties.

President Mahinda Rajapakse on Thursday said the "brutality of the LTTE" would not detract him from pursuing the peace process. "We will not let this incident however barbaric it is to sabotage the peace process. We are deeply committed to the peace process," the state-run Daily News quoted him as telling journalists after he visited the blast site. The international community, including the U.S., Norway, Switzerland and France, condemned the incident. The U.S. called it a "terrorist act" and a "vicious attack" that "bears all the hallmarks of the LTTE. It is a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement that the Tamil Tigers claim to uphold," said the U.S. Department of State in a statement.

Washington called for "an end to the violence" and resumption of peace negotiations. The LTTE "must renounce terror and enter into direct negotiations with the Sri Lankan Government," the statement said.

Blast condemned

The facilitator for the peace process, Norway, said it "condemns in the strongest terms the most recent incidents of violence in Sri Lanka." A total of 519 persons have been killed since December 2005, including Muslims, Sinhalese and Tamils, said the Norwegian Foreign Affairs Ministry in a statement. The continued attacks on civilians "are exacerbating the already critical situation in Sri Lanka."

Thursday's blast, Oslo said, took "violence in Sri Lanka to a new level." It did not name the LTTE, but described the claymore attack as "the bloodiest attack on civilians since the parties to the peace process in Sri Lanka signed the ceasefire agreement in 2002."

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