Air strikes violate the Ceasefire Agreement- SLMM

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 April 2006, 15:14 GMT]
"The air strikes that were conducted by the Sri Lankan Government in Trincomalee district on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) targets in Sampoor area on 25 and 26 April 2006 are a clear violation of the Ceasefire Agreement. Article 1.2 of the Ceasefire Agreement clearly states “Neither Party shall engage in any offensive military operation," said a press release issued by Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Saturday. The release also said that the SLMM fears "Government Security forces have, in the North and the East, been involved in extrajudicial killings of civilians."

Full text of SLMM's press release follows:

The air strikes that were conducted by the Sri Lankan Government in Trincomalee district on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) targets in Sampoor area on 25 and 26 April 2006 are a clear violation of the Ceasefire Agreement. Article 1.2 of the Ceasefire Agreement clearly states “Neither Party shall engage in any offensive military operation”.

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission would like to urge the Government of Sri Lanka to refrain from such operations as they can jeopardise the Ceasefire further and will only add fuel to the conflict

With regards to the LTTE the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission would like to stress that it is inexcusable to place military or political targets amongst the civilian population close to schools and private houses.

Although the situation has calmed down in the last couple of days it is still worrying to see that claymore mine attacks and killings of civilians and army personnel continue. The LTTE must seize all their military activities and attacks on Government forces.

We also fear that Government Security forces have, in the North and the East, been involved in extrajudicial killings of civilians. This conviction is based on our observation and inquiries on the ground.

This violence must stop immediately if the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE are to make any progress in returning to the negotiation table.