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Tamils urged to build bomb shelters as Sri Lanka resumes air raids |
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May 24, 2000
NEW DELHI, MAY 23 (AP) - Sri Lankan warplanes resumed bombing missions Tuesday to hold back the advance by Tamil Tiger rebels against Jaffna City, military officers said, a day after the military claimed its first major battlefield success in weeks.
"We are ready to face the rebels," military spokesman Brig. Palitha Fernando said in Colombo, the capital, as air force jets bombed half a dozen rebel positions in the Jaffna Peninsula.
The rebel radio claimed four civilians were killed and eight wounded Monday in an artillery barrage by the army against an area recently captured by the guerrillas, and urged civilians to construct bomb shelters.
The Voice of the Tigers, the station run by The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, appealed to civilians living in areas controlled by them to construct bomb shelters.
The broadcast, cited by Tamil web sites on the Internet, said the LTTE rebels were relocating civilians from the battle zone.
The military, which has suffered several reverses in the past three weeks, claimed that it killed more than 150 rebels in combat during the past two days near the town of Chavakachcheri in the peninsula.
Sri Lankan censors have banned reports emanating from Colombo containing information or battle claims by the rebels, and has shut down three newspapers for violating censorship regulations. Journalists also are barred from visiting the battle zone.
There was a slowdown in ground fighting Tuesday after some sporadic clashes around midnight Monday that killed another 15 rebels, said Ariya Rubasinghe, the chief censor and a government spokesman.
The military success came as a Norwegian peace delegation was in the Sri Lankan capital to try to bring rebel and government representatives to the negotiating table for the first time in five years.
Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Raymond Johansen met Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar on Monday, but details of the closed-door talks were not made public.
The Tamil Tigers accuse the majority Sinhalese of widespread discrimination in education and jobs. The Sinhalese, who control the government and the military, deny the accusation.
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