M A I N   N E W S

Sporadic fighting continues

COLOMBO, May 27 (PTI) — The Sri Lankan army has declined to honour the 12-hour unilateral ceasefire announced by the LTTE to evacuate civilians from northern Jaffna saying it has not received any official intimation from the rebels.

An army spokesman Brig Palitha Fernando said the troops would continue their fight to liberate certain areas in Jaffna occupied by the LTTE, irrespective of the unilateral ceasefire declared by them.

Meanwhile, an LTTE claymore bomb attack left one Special Task Force commando dead and three others injured near northern Vavuniya town today.

Also sporadic fighting continued since yesterday in the peninsula and other places in the north in which five rebels including a woman were killed, a government release said here.

A report from London said the ceasefire called by Tamil Tiger rebels appeared to have taken effect with the Sri Lankan military saying the northern battle zone was silent.

“There is a lull in the fighting at the moment. Everything is quiet,’’ Sri Lankan army spokesman Palitha Fernando told Reuters.

The ceasefire covered the Thenmarachchi division, a few miles east of Jaffna city, where the rebels say intensive government shelling and bombing had killed 40 civilians and wounded 150 so far.

The LTTE said the UNHCR had agreed to help civilians move to safe areas. But it was still unclear whether many civilians would be able to take advantage of the lull in fighting.

A relief ship run by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that left for Jaffna from the eastern port of Trincomalee on Wednesday returned without unloading medical supplies as the ICRC was unable to secure agreement with the security forces and the LTTE on where it would dock.