At least six rebels died and eight people were wounded when Sri Lankan warplanes attacked a Tamil Tiger camp.
COLOMBO: At least six rebels died and eight people were wounded when Sri Lankan warplanes attacked a Tamil Tiger camp, a rebel leader said on Friday as both sides traded artillery fire.
Three civilians were among the injured during the air raids over Trincomalee district on Thursday, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) regional leader S. Elilan told the pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website.
"Six LTTE cadres were killed and five wounded when Sri Lanka Air Force Kfir jets bombed a camp of the Tigers in Kathiraveli," Elilan said.
However, Sri Lanka's defence ministry said a clandestine airfield being built by Tiger rebels had been hit on Thursday, the second day of air attacks against the guerrillas.
The LTTE had cleared a jungle patch just north of the port city of Trincomalee and was building an airfield when the planes struck, the ministry said.
Elilan said two more civilians had been hurt in another air attack the previous day. Israeli-built Kfir jets pounded suspected rebel bases on Wednesday at Maavilaru and Hirugalaru in northeastern Trincomalee district where the army said the separatists had blocked an irrigation canal.
"The air strikes disrupted the plans that were being taken to address the Maavilaru water supply issue," the Tigers said, referring to allegations that they had blocked water to some 1,500 farmers in the region.
Tamilnet.com website said residents blocked the waterway and the Tigers tried to persuade the civilians to back down, but the bombing made them change their mind.
Meanwhile, the military said Tiger rebels fired mortar shells at troops in the same region on Friday and security forces retaliated in kind.
"At least three mortar bombs fell near a school," a military spokesman here said. "A few civilians were wounded and the army has fired mortars to neutralise LTTE gun positions."
Wednesday's air raids marked the first time in two months that the Sri Lankan military has staged aerial attacks against the LTTE, which controls much of northern and eastern Sri Lanka.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}