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Sri Lanka flies munitions north, brings out bodies

Posted on: Monday, 28 August 2006, 03:53 CDT

By Anuruddha Lokuhapuarachchi

ABOARD SRI LANKA AIR FORCE ANTONOV- (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's air force flew munitions to the island's besieged north on Monday and flew out dead troops in white body bags, as fresh fighting flared in the east.

Officials said two soldiers were killed and 12 others injured when a patrol was attacked by Tamil Tiger rebels near a camp in the restive northeastern district of Trincomalee -- the second such clash in as many days.

Hundreds of people have been killed during the past month as a 2002 truce between government forces and the guerrillas has broken down, prompting fears a two-decade civil war that has killed more than 65,000 people could resume in earnest.

Most of the fighting has been on the island's north and east, where the minority Tamils mostly live. But there have also been bomb blasts and assassinations in the capital, Colombo.

A Reuters witness saw troops unload munitions from a Russian-built troop transporter plane at the Palali airbase in Jaffna, on the northern tip of the island, and replace them with five body bags containing corpses and 10 wounded soldiers to be flown back to Colombo.

Troops nearby were building new underground concrete bunkers at the base.

Some soldiers in the east say they are sick and tired of a guerrilla war they say neither side can win, but one commanding officer flying home on leave said morale was high in the north.

"Compared with earlier parts of the war, this time our soldiers are facing the Tigers well," said Maj. Kamal Pinnawala, who commands a batallion that has been fighting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

"Most of our soldiers believe this time they will be able to repulse all the LTTE attacks," he added, as the plane swept down to fly at around just 165 feet above the sea on its approach to Colombo as a security precaution.

HALF A MILLION TRAPPED

In Jaffna, around 500,000 residents are trapped by sporadic exchanges of artillery across forward defense lines that cut off the peninsula from the rest of the island. Since the fighting resumed earlier this month, road access to Jaffna has been cut off and supply is only possible by air and sea.

Both routes are susceptible to attacks by the Tigers.

Officials were worried that a consignment of 1,500 tonnes of emergency aid shipped north last week would soon run out.

"These food items will only last one week," said Government Agent K. Ganesh. "We are not sure when the next ship will be arranged."

Life is gradually returning to some semblance of normality in Jaffna. The army is lifting a curfew for five hours a day to enable residents to buy provisions and fishermen to venture out to catch prawns.

Staples like vegetables have fallen in price, as farmers have not been able to transport them to government-held areas in the south for sale. But prices of many goods in short supply have sky-rocketed.

"I waited for the ship to arrive and was expecting to receive 600 rupees ($6) worth of goods," said housewife Mary Maridas, whose carpenter husband has been out of work since Jaffna was besieged a fortnight ago. "But I don't know how they will divide the stocks."

"We are living on 1- pounds of bread a day and lentils," she added. "This is very unfortunate."

Analysts and diplomats expect the violence to rumble on, and with the government staunchly opposed to rebel demands for a separate homeland for minority Tamils in the north and east, say any return to peace talks is likely a long way off.

Source: REUTERS

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