Two rebel Tamil Tiger aircraft have attacked the Sri Lankan capital Colombo and air force jets shooting down one plane and engaging the other, the air force has said. "Two aircraft came and still the engagement is going on," Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara, the air force spokesman said on Friday. The air craft that was shot down crashed inside the country's only international airport. Anti-aircraft fire erupted over Colombo as the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) carried out the raid, hitting and setting on fire the main tax office in the centre of the city. At least 27 people were admitted to hospital following the bombing of the government office.
Tracer fire from the centre of the city could be seen and heard, witnesses said. Airport closed The international airport is closed and flights are being diverted to India.
"Ground troops in the north of the island have seen two light aircraft heading towards Colombo," a military official earlier said. "We have activated the air defence system," he said. The rebel Tamil Tiger fighters have a small fleet of aircraft that they have previously used to carry out aerial attacks on Colombo. Minelle Fernandez, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Colombo, said: "We have had since March 2007, when the LTTE launched its first air raid on Colombo ... a number of occasions when air raids have been launched, but they have not managed to hit any targets. "Having said that they have managed to come all the way to Colombo." The military claims to have put the LTTE under significant pressure since the start of the year, pinning the rebels back into an ever tighter area of the northeast of the island nation. None of the single engine aircraft have been found by the military during their advance. The LTTE have been fighting for a separate homeland for ethnic Tamils in the northeast of the country since the early 1980s. |
LTTE planes attack S Lanka capital
Tamil Tiger planes 'raid Colombo'
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Two planes from Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have attacked the capital, Colombo, officials say.
A government office in the city's centre was hit. The defence ministry said 28 people were injured.
One plane was shot down near the city international airport, which has been closed, officials said.
The raid comes as the army has inflicted a series of blows on the Tigers. The military said it had destroyed all the Tigers' runways.
A witness told the BBC's Sinhala service that he had seen something that looked like a plane and then there was a huge explosion near Colombo's fort, in the city centre, close to many government offices.
Military spokesman Brig Udaya Nanayakkara said a tax office was hit.
Another defence spokesman, Keheliya Rambukwella, said one of the planes had been shot down by the international airport, just outside Colombo, and the body of its pilot had been found.
Witnesses at the airport told Associated Press news agency that anti-aircraft guns have been firing there and that there had been an explosion.
Brig Udaya Nanayakkara said the alert began when a suspected Tamil Tiger aircraft was spotted north-east of Colombo and the capital's air defences were activated.
An air force spokesman said jets were scrambled to engaging the planes.
The attack comes as the Sri Lankan army has been pressing the Tamil Tiger rebels into a narrow area of jungle in the north of Sri Lanka.
Correspondents say the attack amounts to a major embarrassment for Sri Lanka's government, which had claimed to have destroyed all the rebels' hidden runways and put its small air force out of action.
The Tigers have used light planes in the past to attack Colombo.
In October 2008, suspected Tamil Tiger rebels carried out air strikes on oil tanks near the capital, Colombo, and in north-western Sri Lanka.
Colombo was also targeted in another raid in March 2007.
About 70,000 people have died in the last 25 years as the Tigers have been fighting for a separate homeland in the north and east of the country.
Sri Lanka troops capture Tiger diving gear: military
Security forces have captured diving equipment and underwater "scooters" used by suicide bombers after heavy fighting with Tamil Tiger rebels in the island's northeast, according to the defence ministry.Troops seized the equipment after five hours of fighting at the village of Ampalavanpokkanai on Thursday, the ministry said in a statement.
Government forces are keeping up a major offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrillas who have been cornered in a narrow strip of coastal jungle area in the district of Mullaittivu.
The fighting has raised concern for the tens of thousands of civilians trapped in the conflict zone.
The LTTE in a statement Friday accused the military of killing 34 civilians in shelling on Thursday.
Sri Lanka's military has denied targeting civilians.
Independent verification of claims and counter claims is not possible as the island's authorities have restricted access to the region by relief agencies, diplomats and independent journalists.
There was no immediate comment from the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has a limited presence in the area. However, the ICRC said earlier this month that "hundreds" of civilians had been killed in the crossfire.
UN envoy tours Sri Lanka camps
John Holmes, the UN's senior humanitarian official, has visited government-run camps in Sri Lanka for the tens of thousands of people fleeing the fighting in the country's northeast. Holmes urged the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger fighters to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties, ahead of his visit on Friday. About 30,000 ethnic Tamils are currently in government-run camps south of Sri Lanka's war zone. Tens of thousands of others are expected to join them in coming weeks, the government says. Al Jazeera's David Hawkins, reporting from the northern Vavuniya district, said the camps for Sri Lanka's displaced appeared to meet international standards. "Holmes is here to see whether or not the food and the shelter are adequate ... and it seems to me that they are," he said "But there's another question, as to whether or not people have freedom of movement." The Sri Lankan government has been criticised for limiting free movement of the displaced people, preventing them from leaving the camps. Officials, however, say its a largely bureacuratic issue, promising they will be allowed to leave the camps once they have received government identification cards. 'Indiscriminate fire' Rights groups have also accused the government of firing on fleeing civilians. In a statement on Friday, Human Rights Watch accused the Sri Lankan military of shelling hospitals and so-called safe zones in the north in recent weeks.
"This 'war' against civilians must stop," James Ross, the legal and policy director at the New York-based rights organisation, said. Sri Lanka's government has denied responsibility for civilian deaths, instead accusing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of using them as human shields. Human Rights Watch also accused the LTTE of shooting at fleeing civilians. The Tigers have denied holding civilians as human shields against the mounting military offensive or shooting at those who flee. Equipment captured The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has a limited presence in the areas of fighting, says "hundreds" of civilians had been killed in the crossfire in recent weeks. After a meeting with Rohitha Bogollagama, Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Holmes said he was "concerned about reports of heavy casualties to the civilian population". Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan defence ministry claimed it had captured diving equipment used by the LTTE after five hours of fighting at the village of Ampalavanpokkanai. The Tamil Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for an independent state for minority Tamils after decades of marginalisation by the Sinhalese majority. |
Parliament stalled again over Sri Lanka war
Angry MPs of the MDMK and PMK created uproar in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday in support of Sri Lankan Tamils, forcing Speaker SomnathChatterjee to adjourn the house twice within minutes.The MPs, wearing black shirts, shouted slogans and walked up to the well of the house expressing their protest against External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's suo motu statement in the house over the Sri Lankan situation.
"Stop the war in Sri Lanka" and "we are not satisfied with the statement" (of the minister) were among the slogans. The sloganeering started midway through the external affairs minister's statement.
After his efforts to discipline the agitated members failed, the speaker first adjourned the house at 12.20 p.m. for 25 minutes.
When the Lok Sabha re-assembled, the MPs were in the same mood and stormed into the well of the house, forcing another adjournment of 75 minutes.
The two parties' MPs were also backed by representatives of some other regional Tamil parties.
The MPs shouted that the Indian government should interfere for a "permanent ceasefire" in Sri Lanka to save Tamil civilians.
Mukherjee had said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) would "best serve the interest of the Tamils by immediately releasing all civilians (under its control) and laying down arms".
Pointing out that the LTTE was an outlawed group in India, the minister added that it "has done much damage to the Tamil community".
The Indian government, he added, "is ready to facilitate the evacuation of civilians trapped in the area of conflict, working with the government of Sri Lanka and the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross)".
UNICEF concerned over fate of LTTE child soldiers
New York Voicing "grave concern" over the recruitment of children by the LTTE in Sri Lanka's war zone, the UN child agency has asked the conflicting parties in the country to find an "orderly and humane solution" so that civilians, particularly the young ones are spared bloodshed. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said it has recorded more than 6,000 cases of children being recruited by LTTE between 2003 and end of last year.
The agency's representative in Sri Lanka, where ongoing fighting has trapped some 250,000 civilians in the country's northern areas, said that the LTTE has stepped up its forced recruitment of civilians, with children as young as 14 years of age being targeted.
"These children are facing immediate danger and lives are at great risk," Philippe Duamelle said, adding that their recruitment is "intolerable." These soldiers are physically abused, and "instead of hope, fear defines their childhood."
UNICEF also expressed alarm at the high number of children sustaining injuries, including burns, fractures, and shrapnel and bullet wounds, in fighting in northern Wanni, where many wounded have been evacuated in the past week.
The UN called on both sides to find an "orderly and humane solution" so that civilians, and children in particular, can be spared further bloodshed and loss of life due to both disease and the fighting."
The UN Country Team in Sri Lanka has called on government forces and the LTTE to refrain from fighting in areas of civilian concentration, following reports that weekend clashes in a so-called 'safe zone' in the northern Wanni region has led to more deaths and injuries.
In a related development, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes will travel to the country this week at the invitation of the Sri Lankan Government.
During his three-day visit from Feb 19 to 21, the top UN relief official will discuss the humanitarian situation with authorities, member states, UN offices in Sri Lanka, the International Red Cross, and others.
While in the country, Holmes will also meet internally displaced people in the northern town of Vavuniya and its vicinity.
