LTTE takes war deep into govt territory

A 2002 ceasefire between the two sides still holds on paper, but a battle last week over a rebel-held water supply has spread to nearby areas in the northeastern Trincomalee district, with both sides exchanging artillery fire and fighting on the ground.

‘‘This is a war,’’ said a policeman at a heavily-defended government roadblock just west of the conflict area. ‘‘They are attacking our soldiers and people and we are attacking them.’’

Multi-barrelled government rocket fire lit up the night sky while jets resumed bombing raids on Tiger positions for an eighth day. Reporters saw trucks transporting two Russian-made T-52 battle tanks and tonnes of supplies to the area.

The military said five servicemen, two civilians and more than 40 Tigers were killed on Wednesday, but that the rebels had left the bodies of only a few behind. The Tigers dismissed the claim as ‘‘desperate’’, but gave no details of casualties.

The military said the rebels attacked three camps before dawn on Wednesday but that they were repulsed. A diplomatic source said the rebels appeared to have bypassed Army camps to move fighters into the town of Mutur, south of Trincomalee harbour.

Residents in surrounding villages were in despair. ‘‘We are scared. All the schools are closed. We dare not go and get water. We can’t earn money,’’ said farmer HN Gunasinghe.

Two Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) mortar bombs fell near a civilian hospital in Mutur, causing some damage to the building, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

The military said clashes in Mutur continued after dark. Trincomalee town, around 10 km across the harbour, was tense but calm as nearby army positions pounded the rebels.

‘‘We have a duty to protect the people and stop the military from pressuring the people with violent means such as aerial bombings,’’ Tiger military spokesman Ilanthiraiyan said from the northern rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi.

‘‘In that context, we had to take some measures to neutralise these antics.’’ The Colombo stock market fell sharply as fighting escalated, and closed 1.0 per cent down as traders worried about the viability of the ceasefire, which halted a two-decade civil war that has killed more than 65,000 people since 1983.

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