Suspected rebel attack kills 10 Sri Lankan soldiers

By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO (Reuters) – Fuelling fears of a return to civil
war, suspected Tamil Tiger rebels killed 10 soldiers in the
island’s far north on Tuesday in the second mine attack in less
than a week, the military said.

The blast followed a string of guerrilla ambushes on the
military and the assassination of a pro-rebel member of
parliament at a Christmas mass that are straining a 2002 truce
to breaking point.

“It was a claymore attack,” said military spokesman Prasad
Samarasinghe, referring to the claymore fragmentation mine used
in the assault near the northern town of Point Pedro.

“Definitely the LTTE is behind this attack,” he said, using
the initials of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. “No-one
else is capable of doing this kind of claymore mine attack in
Jaffna except the LTTE.”

A military official said four other soldiers were admitted
to hospital after the attack, some in critical condition.

On Friday, 13 sailors were killed in an ambush by suspected
Tiger rebels using claymore mines and rocket-propelled grenades
in the island’s northwest.

That prompted major aid donors Japan, the European Union
and Norway to send a delegation for emergency talks with the
Tigers.

Two days later, Joseph Pararajasingam, a member of
parliament for the Tamil National Alliance — the rebels’
proxies in parliament — was assassinated at a Christmas mass
in the eastern district of Batticaloa.

In a separate incident on Tuesday, British demining
organization the Halo Trust said armed men overpowered guards
at their Jaffna compound and stole two four-wheel-drive
vehicles.

Military sources said the men, who have not yet been
identified, also stole 45 mine detectors, 45 uniforms, two
laptops and seven sets of walkie-talkies.

WILL CEASEFIRE HOLD?

“We are very concerned about the situation and urge both
parties to show restraint,” said Mats Lundstrom, spokesman for
the Nordic Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission overseeing the truce.
“We are concerned about the future of the ceasefire agreement.”

Sri Lanka’s stock market closed nearly 7 percent lower as
news of the latest attack compounded earlier losses prompted by
the Christmas killing.

Ceasefire monitors have stopped patrols in the northern
Jaffna peninsula because of the deteriorating security
situation.

The Tigers threatened in November to resume their armed
struggle to carve out a homeland for ethnic Tamils in the north
and east unless they were given wide political powers in about
15 percent of the country where they run a de facto state.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is allied to
hardline Marxists and Buddhists who refuse any concessions for
the rebels, has ruled out the idea of a Tamil homeland.

Rajapakse headed to India on Tuesday on his first state
visit since winning the presidency in November. He is seeking
greater Indian involvement in Sri Lanka’s stalled peace
process, but officials and analysts in India said he was
unlikely to have much success.

Streets were deserted in the military-held Jaffna peninsula
– which is hemmed in by rebel lines. Shops and banks were
closed on the orders of a suspected rebel front organization
and cash dispensing machines were empty.

“I have a strong fear in my heart day and night and am very
worried about my family,” said 48-year-old Jaffna butcher
Solomon Gerald.

“Judging by the present happenings, I fear war will start
again at any moment but I won’t go anywhere. I will stay here
and face it like the rest,” he added. “Where can we go?”