Fresh fighting in Sri Lanka kills 20 rebels, 2 soldiers, military says

By RAVI NESSMAN,Associated Press Writer

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - A fresh round of fighting between security forces and Tamil separatists in Sri Lanka's volatile north killed 20 rebels and two soldiers as air force jets bombed two suspected rebel bases, the military said Tuesday.

The combatants were killed in 10 separate battles Monday in the Mannar, Vavuniya and Welioya regions just south of the Tamil Tigers' de facto state in northern Sri Lanka, said military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara.

The air force also sent fighter jets to bomb a suspected rebel operations center Tuesday morning, and hours later they raided a command and communications base, the military said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage in the air raids.

Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan did not answer a telephone call seeking comment, but each side routinely disputes its opponent's version of events.

A pro-rebel Web site reported that two civilians were killed in the airstrike.

Fighting between the two sides has escalated in recent months as senior government officials vowed to crush the rebels this year and end more than two decades of civil war. Government troops have opened up four fronts around rebel-held territory, while the air force has targeted the group's leadership.

With fighting increasing in the north, suspected rebels have launched a wave of attacks against civilian and military targets in government-controlled territory in the southern part of this Indian Ocean island nation.

On Monday, a roadside bomb attack on a civilian bus in the Welioya region, about 240 kilometers (150 miles) northeast of Colombo, killed 14 people and wounded 15 others, marring celebrations of the country's 60th independence day.

Another roadside bombing in the southeastern town of Buttala killed one soldier and injured two others, the military said.

Amnesty International said in a statement Tuesday that the government and Tamil Tiger rebels are "failing to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law and are killing civilians on an increasingly regular basis."

"With no perpetrators brought to justice a climate of impunity is becoming entrenched: Unless these patterns are reversed the future appears bleak," the statement quoted Tim Parritt, deputy program director for Asia-Pacific, as saying.

The attacks came amid a security clampdown in the capital, Colombo, to discourage violence during the independence celebration.

Tanks, jets, attack boats and thousands of troops paraded through Colombo to mark the holiday as President Mahinda Rajapaksa reiterated his vow to destroy the rebels.

"Our defense forces have achieved victories that were never before seen. Terrorism is facing a defeat that it has never before faced," he said.

The Tamil Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils after decades of being marginalized by Sinhalese-dominated governments. More than 70,000 people have died in the fighting.

A 2002 cease-fire fostered hopes for a lasting peace, but the truce broke down as new fighting over the past two years killed 5,000 people. The government officially pulled out of the agreement last month.

Source: AP