Shells kill 15 civilians as Sri Lanka fighting rages

[oberliner]

Shells kill 15 civilians as Sri Lanka fighting rages
By Peter Apps
1 hour, 6 minutes ago

TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - Artillery fire killed at least 15 civilians sheltering from fighting in Sri Lanka on Thursday, the army said, as troops battled Tamil Tiger rebels and the island slipped back toward civil war.

More than 800 people have died this year and ambushes, air strikes and naval clashes had become commonplace, but it was a dispute over a rebel-held water supply that led to the first major ground fighting last week since a 2002 ceasefire.

The center of fighting on Thursday was the government-held and mainly Muslim town of Mutur, just south of Trincomalee harbour in the northeast of the country.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060803/wl_nm/srilanka_dc_38

[patcox2]

1. Bloodthirsty Buddhists.

Poor people, killed by Buddhist shells.

[bemildred]

6. Buddhifascists.

Actually IIRC, LTTE is Marxist-Secular in orientation; the central government is Buddhist, and rather nationalistic and militant about the Tamils.

[Eugene]

2. AP: Sri Lankan Violence Spreads to New Areas

Sri Lankan Violence Spreads to New Areas


Friday August 4, 2006 7:16 AM

AP Photo XGO117

By KRISHAN FRANCIS

Associated Press Writer

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - Violence spread in northeastern Sri Lanka on Friday,
as the military and Tamil Tiger rebels exchanged mortar fire in a seaside town
that has been the scene of the worst fighting since the two sides signed a
cease-fire agreement in 2002.

A Norwegian peace envoy arrived to try to prevent a resumption of full-scale
civil war, which was halted by the now-battered cease-fire.

Military spokesman Maj. Upali Rajapakse said the rebels started firing mortars
Friday morning at Muttur, the seaside town, "forcing our forces to retaliate."

There were no immediate reports of casualties from Friday's shelling. The rebels
and government forces have blamed each other for artillery attacks Thursday
on three schools that killed 18 residents sheltering there.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5993385,00.html

[Moderator]

3. k

[oberliner]

4. Thousands flee worst Sri Lanka fighting in years

Anyone who has been following this have any more insights? The scale of this crisis seems to be growing larger with each passing day.

Thousands flee worst Sri Lanka fighting in years

TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka (AFP) - Thousands of Muslims were fleeing Sri Lanka's heaviest fighting in years as troops and Tamil Tiger rebels blocked aid from reaching a town bearing the brunt of the conflict, officials and aid workers have said.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called Friday for an immediate halt to the latest battles, which erupted 10 days ago when the Tigers cut off a canal supplying water to thousands of families.

The violence has raised fears of an all-out return to civil war on the island, where an often-broken ceasefire has tried to keep a lid on a Tamil insurgency that has left some 60,000 people dead in the past three decades.

Relief workers said families were using any transport they could find to get out of the mainly-Muslim northeastern town of Muttur, which on Wednesday became the latest flashpoint in a many-fronted battle in which at least 165 people have died.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060804/ts_afp/srilankaunrest_060804103356

[ThomCat]

5. Just what they all need, a return to civil war.

x(

[lonestarnot]

7. Wars and rumors of wars, war war war for what good purpose?