SRI LANKA AIR FORCE KFIR JETS BOMB TAMIL TIGERS SECOND AIR STRIP
IN EAST MULAITHIVU: TIGERS ADMIT 6 CADRES DIED AND FIVE INJURED
(By Walter Jayawardhana)
Los Angeles:- The Sri Lanka Air force fighter jets in a second round of an attack bombed the new airstrip the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is alleged to be building in the East of Mullaithivu near the port town of Trincomalee.
The Sri Lanka Army said its fighter craft, July 27, struck selected Tamil Tiger targets in the East of Mullaithivu, in the troubled Eastern Province of the country where the LTTE was constructing another illegal airstrip, in a surprise attack.
The announcement said the island nation’s air force received information that the LTTE’s Eastern command was constructing this unauthorized air strip and determined specific targets after surveillance and bombed it, July 27.
The LTTE controlled Tamil Net website quoting Trincomalee District Political Head of the Tigers, S. Elilan said: “Six Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres were killed and five wounded when Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir jets bombed a camp of the Tigers in Kathiraveli, 40 km southeast of Trincomalee town, in LTTE controlled Vakarai region Thursday around 3:30 p.m.” The website did not say the air force targetted an airstrip they were building. It also alleged the jets dropped bombs at Keppapulavu in West Mulaithivu and alleged three civilians were also wounded in addition to their cadres.
On the previous day, the Sri Lanka Air Force, bombed camps of terrorists of the LTTE who blocked the flow of irrigation waters starving 35,000 acres of rice fields and seasonal crops affecting thousands of farmers along Mavil Aru, a tributary of Mahaveli Ganga. The terrorists closed the sluice gates of the irrigation canal at Verugal Aru.
This is the second time the island nation’s Air Force ventured in to destroying illegal airstrips the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was building.
On an earlier occasion the Israeli built Kfir jets bombed and destroyed the LTTE’s first airstrip at Iranamadu.
In an exclusive interview with India's leading news magazine the Frontline the head of Sri Lanka's Peace Secretariat Dr. Palitha T.B.Kohona revealed one of the earlier targets of the government bombing was the illegal airstrip at Iranamadu
The government of Sri Lanka considers the building of illegal airstrips without the consent of international aviation authorities is not only a threat to Sri Lanka’s security but also to the security of the region.
Sri Lanka’s Peace Secretariat head said rules of the International Civil Aviation Organization did not permit illegal airstrips.
He was further quoted as saying: "On top of that, there also is the question of regional security. Regional security involves not only Sri Lanka, but India as well and countries of the region. The existence of an airstrip under the control of a terrorist organization - which India recognizes as a terrorist organization - is not only a threat to Sri Lanka, but to the stability of the region and to the neighboring countries.”
