Tamil rebels yesterday launched a ground and air attack on a military complex in northern Sri Lanka, killing at least 10 soldiers and losing an equal number of their own fighters, the rebels and the military said.
At least two rebel aircraft targeted the runway at the air force complex in Vavuniya, 240km north of Colombo, and one was shot down later off Mullaitivu, 60km from the base, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanaykkara said.
But the military said it was able to foil what it called a “major attack” on the complex, which includes the security forces headquarters from which military operations are being directed in the government’s efforts to recapture rebel-held areas in the north.
The defense ministry said rebels had also directed artillery fire at the security forces complex, where a police officer was also killed.
At least 23 security personnel were injured in the fighting.
The rebels, who are fighting for an autonomous homeland for the Tamil ethnic minority, deployed their aircraft for the second time in a week. Last week, they dropped bombs on a navy camp in the northeastern area of Trincomalee, injuring 10 sailors.
Nanayakkara said the military mounted an artillery attack on rebel positions from which the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam launched its attack on the military complex.
Residents said the fighting around the base lasted for nearly two hours.
The battle occurred as government troops continued an offensive to recapture rebel-held areas in the north with the aim of finishing the mission by year’s end.
The military claims it has moved into the rebels’ final two stronghold districts in the north.
The area is the last to be held by the rebels after the military recaptured rebel-held territory in eastern Sri Lanka last year.
In related news, the defense ministry ordered all international and local non-governmental organizations carrying out relief work in rebel-held areas to leave, citing “safety concerns.”
Foreign and local workers are also barred from entering rebel-controlled areas, it said, although officials said UN agencies and the Red Cross are not to be affected by the order.
About 200,000 civilians have been displaced by the fighting, and almost all of them are moving further into rebel-controlled areas despite the government announcing safe passage for them to leave.
The military has said rebels are not letting civilians leave, but civilians were quoted by governmental officials in the area as saying they were reluctant to enter unfamiliar military-controlled areas.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not