Despite president’s denials, Sri Lankan military continues offensive war

The diplomats represent the co-chairs of the so-called Sri Lankan peace process, which has all but collapsed, along with the 2002 ceasefire agreement, amid open fighting over the last month. In a statement issued after the meeting, the president rather absurdly declared that the government remained committed to the truce and was awaiting the LTTE’s response for the resumption of peace talks.

Rajapakse’s comments are based on a series of lies. The president initiated the current fighting when he ordered an offensive by 2,000 troops on July 26 to capture the Mavilaru sluice gate inside LTTE territory. The government claimed that the operation was a limited humanitarian operation, but the head of the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Ulf Hendrickson, declared that it was an obvious breach of the 2002 ceasefire.

The military used the Mavilaru offensive as the pretext for bombing other key LTTE targets, provoking retaliatory attacks that have continued to escalate. From August 11, the LTTE launched attacks on army positions on the northern Jaffna peninsula. Heavy fighting was reported last Friday at Muhamalai and Nagarkovil along with LTTE artillery attacks on the key Palaly air base and military complex. The northern portion of the peninsula held by government forces is largely cut off by land and air.

The latest casualty lists released yesterday by the military indicate the extent of the fighting. According to the press statement, armed forces casualties from August 1 to 21 have been 159 dead and 452 injured. The military claims to have killed around 600 LTTE fighters and wounded many more, but the figures are likely to be inflated. Defence spokesmen continue to insist, for instance, that scores of schoolgirls killed in a bombing attack last week were “child soldiers”.

Significantly, none of the powers represented at Monday’s meeting criticised Rajapakse. For three weeks, as the military launched its offensive at Mavilaru, the co-chairs maintained a complete silence, effectively giving the Sri Lankan government a green light to proceed. The co-chairs issued a call last week for an end to the conflict and a resumption of peace talks, but, like meeting with the president, it appears to have been little more than a formality.


More
http://wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/sril-a23.shtml