Air strikes violate the
Ceasefire Agreement- SLMM!
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.
More SLMM press releases:
http://www.slmm.lk/intros/press_releases.htm
Courtesy:Sri Lanka
Monitoring Mission!
http://www.slmm.lk/
Related documents:
Full text of the Ceasefire
Agreement..enter
SLMM Links...enter