Tigers destroy Jaffna building with time bomb<\/p>\n
COLOMBO (Reuter): A time bomb planted by Sri Lankan Tamil
\nTiger guerrillas demolished the main administration building in
\nJaffna yesterday as troops mopped up resistance in the former
\nrebel northern stronghold, defense officials said.<\/p>\n
\"Terrorists had set up an explosive device inside the
\nkachcheri (administration) building in Jaffna town,\" a military
\nspokesman said. \"Around 11.45 a.m. one side of the building
\ncollapsed as a result of an explosion.\"<\/p>\n
He said there were no casualties in the blast, which came as
\nthe government prepared to restore basic services to the battle-
\nscarred town.<\/p>\n
Troops worked to flush out remaining Liberation Tigers of
\nTamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels from newly captured areas of the town
\ncenter and to defuse a maze of mines and boobytraps planted to
\ndelay their advance and inflict maximum casualties, officials
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
On Sunday troops raised the national flag over the Jaffna
\nFort, an ancient Dutch citadel which was the army's headquarters
\nbefore it pulled out of the town five years ago.<\/p>\n
The military said any rebels caught in their net would have to
\nsurrender or commit suicide.<\/p>\n
The guerrillas' Voice of Tigers radio, monitored by Reuters in
\nthe frontline town of Vavuniya, said yesterday that rebel
\nresistance and boobytraps had slowed the army's advance.<\/p>\n
\"While the government is engaged in false propaganda that the
\nLTTE have bolted from the Jaffna peninsula to escape the oncoming
\narmy, it is very silent about the current fierce resistance of
\nthe LTTE,\" the radio said.<\/p>\n
The rebels have withdrawn to Killinochchi, on the northern
\nmainland, and to the jungles of Mullaitivu and Batticaloa in the
\neast.<\/p>\n
Tiger radio reported firefights between rebel defenders and
\ngovernment troops at the weekend after two army columns linked up
\nin the Jaffna fort area on Saturday, ringing the town center.<\/p>\n
Troops were searching for hidden arms dumps which the rebels
\nwere suspected to have left behind in Jaffna town for use later
\nby infiltrators, defense officials said.<\/p>\n
They said the military was bracing for a massive Tiger
\ncounterattack to avenge the loss of Jaffna, the rebels' spiritual
\ncapital in their war for an independent homeland for minority
\nTamils in the island's north and east. More than 50,000 people
\nhave died in the 12-year war.<\/p>\n
Officials said they want to restore power, water and other
\nbasic supplies to the town to try to woo back its population,
\nforced by the rebels to evacuate before the army took control.<\/p>\n
The government says at least 180,000 people have fled the
\nfighting in the Jaffna peninsula and crossed the Jaffna lagoon to
\nthe northern mainland. Aid agencies put the number of people
\ndisplaced by the fighting at as high as 800,000.<\/p>\n
Analysts say it will not be easy to get Tamil civilians to
\nresettle in Jaffna as they fear reprisals from the LTTE.<\/p>\n
But they say the army must win the hearts and minds of the
\nrefugees if President Chandrika Kumaratunga's \"peace package\"
\noffering devolution to minority Tamils is to succeed.<\/p>\n
The government plans to rehabilitate Jaffna after liberating
\nit from the rebels, Housing, Construction and Public Utilities
\nMinister Nimal Siripala de Silva was quoted as saying in
\nyesterday's state-run Daily News.<\/p>\n
De Silva urged southern Sinhalese youths to show goodwill and
\nhelp the government to rebuild the north. Youths who wished to
\nhelp would get free transport and other facilities, he said.<\/p>",
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