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4 civilians killed in Jaffna

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan Army said four more civilians were killed in the Jaffna peninsula by the LTTE in the last 24 hours. Troops, advancing amid stiff resistance, launched artillery fire on identified rebel targets in Kaddiaparichchan and Sampoor.

The recent offensive, aimed at Trincomalee harbour, was being directed from the Sampoor base of the Tamil Tigers and the Army was determined to neutralise their threat. One soldier died in the confrontation. The LTTE also suffered heavy casualties.

According to LTTE military spokesman Ilanthirayan, the four-day assault by the Army on Sampoor had "completely destroyed" the villages of Senaiyoor, Kaddaiparichchan, Kanesapuran. TamilNet quoted the LTTE spokesman as saying that more than 1,200 families were displaced.

"All these families were already displaced from elsewhere in Sampoor due to shelling by the Sri Lankan Army over the last few months. Homes and public buildings have been destroyed. Crops have also been damaged. Most of the livestock has been killed."

The LTTE, through Norwegian facilitators, had condemned in the "strongest possible terms Sri Lanka's `scorched earth' policy of occupying Tamil civilian centres and rendering them uninhabitable," he said.

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