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Air attack on Tamil civilians alleged

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: A day after the unsuccessful attempt on the life of Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa by a suspected LTTE suicide bomber, TamilNet claimed that Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) had bombed a civilian settlement in Mullathivu district.

TamilNet said at least one civilian was wounded and three houses were damaged when Kfir bombers hit a temporary settlement for the tsunami-affected in Mullaithivu district. It said another village, Vadduvahal, was attacked within an hour in another sortie.

TamilNet said two bombers dropped eight bombs in Thevipuram.

Soldier killed

The air force has consistently maintained that it was engaged in targeting only identified LTTE positions and resorted to bombing only on confirmation from intelligence sources and aerial surveillance. In another incident, suspected LTTE cadres triggered a claymore device hidden along the Udupiddy-Valvettithurai road on Friday evening, killing a soldier of an army unit returning to camp after constructing sentry posts near Ellankulam Heroes Resting Home.

In a separate incident, TamilNet said a young woman was injured on Friday by a stray bullet fired during combat training by the navy at the Kayts base. Meanwhile, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna on Saturday asked the Government when it would ban the Tamil Tigers and annul the 2002 Cease-Fire Agreement.

"When will the Government take measures to proscribe Tiger terrorists and annul the ceasefire agreement after Tiger terrorists have carried out a suicide attack on Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa?" the JVP asked in a statement.

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