15 000 flee air strikes
Source:news24
26/04/2006 13:23 - (SA)
Colombo - More than 15 000 people fled their homes in Tamil guerrilla-held northeastern Sri Lanka on Wednesday as military air strikes continued, said rebels.
It was reported that villagers were on the move in the district of Trincomalee, where the military launched air strikes shortly after suspected Tamil Tiger guerrillas carried out a suicide bombing in the capital on Tuesday.
It said that a Tamil Tiger front organisation had arranged temporary shelter and cooked food for the refugees.
The reports said: "These families started walking toward Pattalipuram, while Sri Lanka airforce Kfir jets resumed bombing on Wednesday morning."
Government officials said they had no information about what was happening in areas held by the rebels.
However, the government on Wednesday said it would continue air strikes against positions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as long as the rebels attacked the government forces.
The military said that two people were killed and nine injured on Wednesday after Tigers fired mortar bombs at a jetty in the Muttur area in the Trincomalee district.