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Sri Lankan Airforce Steps Up Attacks on Tamil Tiger Targets
Sri Lanka's airforce has stepped up attacks on Tamil Tiger targets in the Northern part of the country following reports of fresh Tamil Tigers build-up in the area, the Island newspaper reported Thursday.
Military spokesman Brigadier Sanath Karunaratne was quoted as saying that the airforce launched the attacks Wednesday morning despite missile threats from Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels.
The spokesman said that LTTE front line positions at Colombuturai near Jaffna town were repeatedly bombed as part of the ongoing efforts to weaken the rebels.
He added that the airforce had scored a number of good hits and the aircraft had returned to base after carrying out sorties.
He said that monitored Tiger transmissions had revealed that four senior LTTE officials including a self styled Lieutenant Colonel Planiran Parani were killed when the airforce attacked Tiger positions north of Chalai. The other dead officials were identified as Kadani Karusha, Arisi Thuiyawan and Thiseiarasi.
The airforce headquarters said they were confident of further improving and expanding air strikes when they take delivery of ordered aircraft and helicopter gunships following recent crisis in Jaffna.
The Tamil Tigers have been in a bloody war against the government forces for 17 years in an ambitious attempt to create a separate Tamil state in the north and east of the country. In late April this year they captured series of government forces barracks and pushed forward to Jaffna, a cultural city for minority Tamils.
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