SRI LANKA: Violence escalates in Sri Lanka as peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels remain deadlocked

Record ID: 859240

  • Title: SRI LANKA: Violence escalates in Sri Lanka as peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels remain deadlocked
  • Date: 25th April 2006
  • Summary: POLICE AND JUDICIAL OFFICER VISITS HOSPITAL
  • Embargoed: 10th May 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Sri Lanka
  • City:
  • Country: Sri Lanka
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVALG9GKIPHZK2S2W3UPI825CJT
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: More than 100 people have been killed since the first week of April in Sri Lanka as suspected Tamil Tiger rebels stepped up violence and made the period one of the bloodiest since a 2002 ceasefire.
    In addition to security personnel, the violence has taken its toll on the Sinhalese majority civilans in the multi-ethnic northeast region.
    Both the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) say they want to join peace talks in Switzerland which have been postponed indefinitely after wrangling over the transport of eastern rebel leaders to a pre-Geneva meeting.
    Police said the situation in Trincomalee was extremely seriously and they have drafted in reinforcements. New checkpoints have been set up and part of the town centre has been sealed off.
    On Sunday (April 23) six Sinhalese youth farming in the paddy fields in Gomarankadawala in eastern Trincomalee were shot dead by suspected Tamil rebels.
    The villagers and relatives of the dead gathered at the hospital on Monday (April 24) and blamed the government for not providing enough security as the violence increases in the district.
    "In our village we have home guards, police and the army. But that is not enough. They did not have a proper security plan. We had information that an attack was imminent. Still these forces had no proper plan to protect the village," K.M.S. Deshapriya a villager from Gomarankadawala said.
    In the rural hinterland surrounding Trincomalee, unsolved killings of Tamil civilians, suspected Tiger attacks on Sinhalese villages and army patrols as well as ethnic riots continue, with some Tamils fleeing their homes in fear.
    The Tigers deny recent attacks but many believe they are trying to provoke army retaliation and an ethnic backlash against Tamils that will win international sympathy and drive more Tamils to their cause.
    "Even after the incident there were no security forces people here. They did not even try help us to collect the bodies," said Pradeep Samaranayake, another villager.
    In the Northern district of Vavuniya, two home guards attached to the police were killed in a claymore mine attack on Monday evening. The two home guards were returning home on bicycles when the attack took place
    Analysts say they are angry the government has not reined in breakaway rebels known as the Karuna group, who have been attacking the Tigers. The government denies backing the group.
    An army spokesman said suspected Tiger rebels hijacked a civilian bus in the northern government enclave of Jaffna and drove it through a checkpoint without stopping, firing at the troops. The bus was eventually stopped and the Tigers fled, he said, but the driver was killed in the crossfire.
    U.S.-based group Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday (April 25) that members of the almost exclusively Sinhalese security forces had stood by during ethnic riots that followed a suspected Tiger bomb in Trincomalee two weeks ago, describing President Mahinda Rajapakse's response as "grossly inadequate".
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