Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Sri Lanka bombs rebel positions, army blamed for blast

Catherine McDuffie / 1/30/2008 / 5:00pm / Global Crime /


Sri Lankan jets have been bombing rebel positions as ground troops have attacked thirty five rebel bunkers. At least ten Tamil Tigers, the Sri Lankan rebel group, have been killed. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam blamed the army for a roadside bus bombing that killed 17 people, most of who are said to be children. The army denies this report. Both sides continually deny the strength of their own doings and instead exaggerate the wrongs of the other. The ground troops killed twenty people during their raid on the rebel bunkers, claiming those ten Tamil Tiger deaths as deaths of terrorists. The mainly Sinhalese government has promised to wipe out the Tiger military, as earlier this month it ended its six year ceasefire. This twenty year conflict has claimed more than 70,000 lives. Nordic military, who have just been asked to leave the area, claim that both sides repeatedly violated the ceasefire.

This conflict in Sri Lanka is devastating. I do not know if I believe the government can stop the Tamil Tigers on its own, and how the government asked the Nordic military to leave makes me wonder how corrupt the government is. I sincerely hope they did not ask the military to leave because of intentions for overly violent behavior or massacre. I hope their means of bringing an end to the Tamil Tigers are fair and just, and that they are able to handle it with tact and control.



http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSCOL227259

1 comment:

Erin Norris said...

I agree that it is a sad thing and I do think that it seems as if the government being asked to leave was so that something maybe illegal in the country or something that was not completely just was going on to stop the problem. It makes me sad that all the children died in the bombings because they are innocent. But I do agree also that I hope that what seems like a shady situation does not turn out to be that way.