Fighting between government forces and Tamil insurgents in Sri
Lanka's north and east and a suicide bombing in the capital left
dozens of people dead Monday, including youths killed in what the
rebels claimed was an air raid on a home for teenagers, officials
said.
The clashes along the frontiers dividing government and rebel
territory in the north and east, and the blast in Colombo, appeared
to dash what little hope was left for a quick end to fighting that
has steadily worsened over the past four weeks, undermining an
already shaky ceasefire.
A 2002 truce was intended to halt more than two decades of
bloodshed between the government, dominated by Sri Lanka's 14
million Sinhalese, and the rebels, who have been fighting since
1983 for an independent homeland for the country's 3.2 million
Tamils.
While it remains officially in effect, months of shootings and
bombings had already left it in tatters before the latest round of
clashes.
In fighting Monday, Sri Lankan air force jets bombed the
northeastern Mullaitivu district, deep inside rebel territory.
The pro-rebel TamilNet website, citing officials from the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, reported that 61 girls who were
studying there were killed and another 60 were injured.
However, Air Force spokesman Group Captain Ajantha Silva said
the military had proof that the site was a rebel base.
Hours later in Colombo, a suicide bomber in an auto rickshaw
blew himself up as a car carrying Pakistan's high commissioner,
Basir Ali Mohmand, passed along a crowded road. At least seven
people were killed, including four army commandos guarding the
envoy, the government said. Another 10 people were wounded in the
bombing less than a kilometer from the residence of President
Mahinda Rajapakse.
(China Daily August 15, 2006)
