Sri Lanka jets bomb 'rebel camp'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/6167780.stm

Version 0 of 1.

The Sri Lankan military has said it has carried out an air raid on a Tamil Tiger rebel training camp in the north.

But the rebels said military aircraft have dropped bombs in an "unprovoked" attack near rebel-held territory.

A rebel spokesman said as many as 20 bombs had been dropped by Sri Lankan planes near Kilinochchi.

Government forces and rebels have frequently clashed on land and at sea this year as a fragile ceasefire, agreed in 2002, has unravelled.

"We are being bombed," rebel military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan told Reuters news agency.

"The bombs are falling near Kilinochchi. The buildings in town are vibrating. There was no provocation."

He said he did not have any information on any casualties.

Sri Lanka military spokesman Brig Prasad Samarasinghe said the air raids targeted a training camp run by the Sea Tigers.

"This was not due to provocation as such. This was a known target. Every day the navy is getting hammered [in sea clashes], so to pre-empt that the air force has taken the target."

Rising violence

On Monday, Sri Lanka announced it would temporarily open the main road to the northern Jaffna peninsula to allow supplies to reach 500,000 civilians trapped by fighting.

Peace talks broke down last month in Geneva.

Violence has claimed more than 3,000 lives since the end of last year, the government says, although the rebels dispute the number of their fighters killed.

Despite the bloodshed, both sides maintain that they are committed to the ceasefire, which now exists only in name.

Most observers believe they were brought to the failed peace talks last month only as a result of international pressure.

About 65,000 people were killed in fighting before the 2002 truce was agreed.

The rebels want a homeland for minority Tamils in the north and east. They say Tamils have been discriminated against by the island's Sinhalese majority.