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Lanka: Troops ignore international calls for ceasefire
 (AKI) - Sri Lankan security forces on Tuesday claimed to have entered the last northern town on the island under the control of Tamil Tiger militants. The military made the claim as the government faced renewed calls from the European Union and the United Nations for an immediate ceasefire to allow tens of thousands of civilians to leave the war-torn region. The military has driven separatists from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam from their major strongholds and confined them to a small area of coastal land in the northeast. Government troops entered Puthukkudiyiruppu on Tuesday and were fighting on the outskirts of the town, the military said. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has told The Asian Age that the government's military offensive had reached the point of no return and the troops would not rest until terrorism was eradicated. In a telephone interview from Colombo, Rajapaksa said that government troops were "almost 98 per cent there" and the only option for Tamil militants was to lay down their arms and surrender. He also dismissed international demands for a ceasefire. "It is some kind of joke," Rajapaksa said. "It is very clear they cannot do anything. They are surrounded. The leaders (of the LTTE) are safe with civilians and they've all moved into a small area," he said. Defending Colombo's rejection of ceasefire, Rajapaksa said the LTTE would use the cessation of hostilities to reorganise and regroup. He also suggested that India support the campaign to eliminate the LTTE. "India's position is clear. [It] is concerned about the civilians. India has said the LTTE is a terrorist organisation," he said, when asked whether there was pressure on Colombo to go slow on the military offensive. "We are only concerned about India (because it) is home to 60-odd million Tamils. India is a major power and it understands," he added. He insisted that Sri Lankan troops were moving cautiously to minimise civilian casualties. "We have taken all precautions. We are doing it at the cost of sacrificing our own (troops). Otherwise, the war would have been over in no time." Rajapaksa, a retired colonel and brother of Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, was concerned that the LTTE's leaders might escape. UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has said the global community will support a ceasefire that allows civilians to get out of the combat zone. "There is an urgent need to bring this conflict to an end without any further unnecessary loss of civilian life and destruction of society," he said. An estimated 2,000 civilians trapped in the northeastern war zone have died as casualties have soared in the fierce fighting seen over the past month, the group said. Posted by: Fred 2009-02-25 |
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