Tigers extend truce as heavy fighting grips Sri Lanka<\/p>\n
COLOMBO (AFP): Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers extended their
\nunilateral truce by one month as heavy fighting raged on Tuesday
\nin Jaffna with troops trying to retake lost territory, officials
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said
\nthey have decided to extend the ceasefire which was due to expire
\nat midnight Wednesday to pave the way for Norway's efforts to
\nbroker peace in the island.<\/p>\n
The LTTE in its two-page statement said they were urging the
\nUnited States, Britain, European nations and India to persuade
\nthe Sri Lankan government to reciprocate the truce.<\/p>\n
The statement issued from the LTTE's \"international
\nsecretariat\" in London came as fighting raged in the northern
\npeninsula of Jaffna where security forces launched a fresh
\noffensive under the cover of darkness on Monday.<\/p>\n
The Tigers initially declared a one-month truce on Christmas
\neve, but the Sri Lankan government rejected the rebel call to
\nreciprocate saying the militants were trying to buy time.<\/p>\n
The government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga said it will
\nagree to de-escalate the conflict only after the rebels enter
\npeace talks through Norwegian facilitation.<\/p>\n
The LTTE said it felt that the Colombo government's refusal to
\nreciprocate was to \"justify its pursuit to have the LTTE
\nproscribed under the British terrorism Act.\"<\/p>\n
The Tigers maintained they strictly observed the truce and
\nengaged only in \"defensive war\" in the past month despite
\ngovernment allegations of over 50 truce violations.<\/p>\n
Their decision was taken in \"compliance with the wish of the
\ninternational community,\" it said.<\/p>\n
In the latest fighting, the defense ministry said troops shot
\ndead at least 20 members of the LTTE who resisted the military
\nadvance mounted on Monday night.<\/p>\n
Defense ministry spokesman Sanath Karunaratne said troops lost
\ntwo soldiers killed and six wounded when Tiger guerrillas fired a
\nbarrage of artillery and mortar bombs towards military positions
\non Tuesday.<\/p>\n
There was no reaction from the LTTE to the latest military
\noffensive nor did the LTTE give casualty figures for either side.<\/p>\n
Following the Monday night drive, security forces recaptured
\nan area of eight square kilometers lost to the LTTE in November
\nlast year, the defense ministry said in a statement issued on
\nMonday night.<\/p>\n
\"The surprise achieved was such that the terrorists could not
\nuse their heavy concentration of mortars and artillery as they
\nwere unaware of security forces' positions until consolidation
\nhad progressed to a great extent (on Monday night),\" it said.<\/p>\n
Security forces also took a 2.5 kilometer stretch of the A-9
\nhighway in the area and now control the strategically important
\nhigh ground in the area, the ministry said.<\/p>\n
However, by Tuesday morning heavy fighting erupted with the
\nLTTE mounting a ferocious counter offensive. The military too hit
\nback using air craft and artillery guns as well as multi-barrel
\nrocket launchers, officials said.<\/p>\n
The military mounted an offensive that was ferociously
\nrepulsed by the LTTE last week in the Jaffna peninsula with the
\nmilitary losing 54 soldiers and the guerrillas losing 52,
\naccording to the government.<\/p>\n
The LTTE had said the army was aiming to retake the Elephant
\npass base at the entrance to the Jaffna peninsula. The military
\nlost Elephant Pass to the LTTE in April last year.<\/p>\n
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake has vowed
\nthat troops will regain Elephant Pass which is still some 20
\nkilometers away from the latest army positions.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tigers-extend-truce-as-heavy-fighting-grips-sri-lanka-1447893297",
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