Daily Archives: March 9, 2007
Army capture more Tiger camps in Trincomalee jungles
By Walter Jayawardhana
SRI LANKA ARMY TROOPS OVERRUN FOUR LTTE CAMPS IN THE JUNGLES OF TRINCOMALEE KILLING ATLEAST 20
The Sri Lanka troops overran four Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam held military camps in the Trincomalee district inflicting heavy casualties among the separatists during a raid conducted before the dawn on Friday.
The Sri Lanka army troops backed by artillery and multi barrel rocket launchers killed more than 20 Tiger guerillas that came a day after the LTTE threatened to cover Sri Lanka in a blood bath if the troops did not stop the offensive.
In a separate incident the LTTE fighters killed three and wounded 13 elite police commandos by ambushing an armored vehicle by a roadside bombin the Batticaloa District.
Military spokesman said that they have three army camps in their hands and a smaller satellite camp after they fired multi barrel rockets and artillery into the camps forcing some of the Tiger fighters to flee.
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam military spokesman Rasiah Ilantheriyan downplayed the capture by telling that the government troops are just walking into abandoned LTTE camps for propaganda gains.
But he said what the government troops are taking are LTTE held land for the last 24 years in Trincomalee jungles and the government is asking for a full scale war.
Ilantheriyan said, “”They are not conquering the jungle, they are just walking in it,” He also added by saying he had no reports of casualties. “Now the Sri Lankan government is asking for a full-scale war… If they are asking for war, they are going to have it everywhere in this island.”
Ilantheriyan also issued such warnings before the government troops captured Sampur and Vakarai in the Eastern province.
Ilantheriyan accused the international community for being silent when the 2002 ceasefire agreement signed between former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was openly flouted.
The capture by the government troops in the Trincomalee bases at the time they are also making preparations to capture the large LTTE base in the Thoppigala jungles further south in the Ampara District in the Eastern Province. Thousands of civilians have fled the area into government controlled areas already.
Bracewell tips Sri Lanka
John Bracewell, the New Zealand coach, believes the conditions in the West Indies have pushed Sri Lanka towards World Cup favouritism. Bracewell made the assessment after watching his side lose to Banglades on a turning surface in Barbados on Tuesday and he will have another opportunity to gauge Tom Moody’s squad in New Zealand’s final warm-up on Friday.
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Sri Lanka: 200,000 displaced, security worsening in Government-separatist fighting
Over 200,000 Sri Lankans have been displaced in the past six months and some 600,000 others remain cut off in the north of the island as the unresolved conflict and dangerously fragile ceasefire accord between the Government and Tamil separatists continue to affect gravely the lives of children and women, according to a United Nations update.
“With violence between the government and the LTTE [Liberation of Tigers of Tamil Eelam] at its highest level since 2002, the security situation is deteriorating especially in the North and East,” the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in its March report on the 20-year-old conflict which has already killed more than 65,000 people.
“Political functionaries have been killed and multiple attacks on military and police outposts have taken place. Religious/ethnic strife is common, and public life is often closed down as a means of popular protest,” it added, noting that the recruitment of children by the LTTE and the breakaway Karuna Faction continues to be a major violation of children’s rights in the Indian Ocean island.
In the case of increasing violence and warfare, additional resources will be needed to respond to the uprooting of up to 400,000 people with displacement likely to range up to several years, UNICEF warned.
Security in the north and east has deteriorated for humanitarian workers due to harassment, abduction and forced recruitment by the LTTE and Karuna Faction, while intensified security measures by the Armed Forces has led to reduced access for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and UN humanitarian staff and supplies to LTTE-operating areas, as well as to allegations of human rights violations.
Currently the immediate issues for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) are services for water supplies, sanitation, drainage and solid waste management. “Ensuring that needs of public and personal hygiene are in place is critical,” the report said, adding that some IDPs had already been uprooted several times.
UNICEF continues to monitor underage recruitment. During the last quarter of 2006, the number of children reportedly recruited by the LTTE further decreased from 187 to 145. Recruitment by the Karuna faction also dropped from 72 to 68 during the same period. The agency continues to talks with armed groups on the release of children and the cessation of recruitment.
As of the end of January, UNICEF had recorded 6,241 children abducted, 6,006 by LTTE and 235 by Karuna, with 1,879 children still being held, 1,710 by LTTE and 169 by Karuna. Released children and other male youth continue to seek UNICEF’s aid for special protection in fear of assassination, arrests and abduction.
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Another U.S. base in the Indian Ocean?
India, from a long-term perspective, has every reason to be concerned about the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement between the U.S. and Sri Lanka.
THE TEN-YEAR Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) signed by the United States and Sri Lanka on March 5, which provides for among other things logistics supplies and re-fuelling facilities, has major ramifications for the region, particularly India.
However, New Delhi’s silence on the development is a reflection of the changed geo-political environment in the post-Cold War era with the emergence of the U.S. as the sole superpower. The new dynamics in India-U.S. ties could be another reason for South Block’s silence.
For all the sophistry and spin by the Americans, the ACSA is a military deal and, on the face of it, is loaded in Washington’s favour. For the U.S., it is as good as acquiring a base in the Indian Ocean and at little or no cost. In the immediate context, the ACSA suits the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government as an advertisement of its influence with the superpower in general and in its fight against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in particular.
Just a few years ago, such an agreement would have been inconceivable given the sensitivities of India in view of the geographical proximity of Sri Lanka. For example, the grant of permission by Colombo to Voice of America to establish its transmitter in the island and the leasing of oil tanks in Trincomalee port to pro-American firms were major bones of contention between India and Sri Lanka for decades.
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