COLOMBO, Nov 6 (Reuters) Sri Lankan jets bombed Tamil Tiger areas for the fourth day in a week today and there were artillery duels in the north and east amid fears of a new escalation of violence in the island's two-decade civil war.
The Tigers said Air Force bombs had damaged civilian buildings in Vakarai, a town in the eastern district of Batticaloa, but there were no deaths. The military said it had hit a rebel naval base.
Each accused the other of preparing to mount major offensives.
''They are firing heavy artillery and mortars at us in the north and in Batticaloa, where there is a heavy military presence,'' said Tiger military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan.
''Civilians are suffering immensely.'' A suspected Tamil Tiger front group has threatened to attack civilian targets including hospitals and reservoirs in southern Sri Lanka in retaliation for military strikes on rebel areas.
The High Security Zone Residents' Liberation Force, which claims to represent Tamils whose land and homes have been swallowed up by a militarised zone in the army-held northern Jaffna peninsula, said it was giving the military a final warning to halt attacks on rebel territory or face retaliation.
The group, with which the Tigers deny having links, claimed responsibility for a rash of deadly attacks on troops in the north earlier this year.
The military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) accuse each other of provoking near daily artillery and mortar exchanges.
''We are sure that the people of the south are fully aware of the sort of humanitarian catastrophe they would have to face if one of the dams in the south were to burst,'' the suspected front said in a message faxed to Reuters overnight.
''Our retaliation may be anywhere and at any time.'' SCHOOL DISRUPTION THREAT It said it could also disrupt schools in the south if Tamil students' exams were delayed in Jaffna, which is cut off from the rest of the island by rebel lines. The group did not say what form the disruption would take.
Analysts said the threats should be taken seriously and feared the Tigers could turn to guerrilla tactics from the more conventional warfare the foes have been fighting in the north and east since the civil war flared up in late July.
''It is definitely the Tigers using another arm to set the ground for something they are planning,'' Iqbal Athas, an analyst with Jane's Defence Weekly, told Reuters on Monday.
''I would think an attack becomes inevitable in the current scenario,'' he added. ''It is a frightening scenario.'' The first peace talks in eight months collapsed a week ago over a rebel demand that the government reopen the main north-south highway which runs through Tiger territory to Jaffna, as each side accused the other of abuses.
The government said on Monday it would probe a host of unsolved murders, abuses and disappearances, including the slaughter of 17 aid workers, with the help of foreign observers amid growing outrage among rights groups and the international community.
More than 65,000 people have been killed in the conflict since 1983, including more than 1,000 dead servicemen, around 500 civilians and an estimated 1,000 rebel fighters since December alone.
REUTERS AKJ RN2345
The Tigers said Air Force bombs had damaged civilian buildings in Vakarai, a town in the eastern district of Batticaloa, but there were no deaths. The military said it had hit a rebel naval base.
Each accused the other of preparing to mount major offensives.
''They are firing heavy artillery and mortars at us in the north and in Batticaloa, where there is a heavy military presence,'' said Tiger military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan.
''Civilians are suffering immensely.'' A suspected Tamil Tiger front group has threatened to attack civilian targets including hospitals and reservoirs in southern Sri Lanka in retaliation for military strikes on rebel areas.
The High Security Zone Residents' Liberation Force, which claims to represent Tamils whose land and homes have been swallowed up by a militarised zone in the army-held northern Jaffna peninsula, said it was giving the military a final warning to halt attacks on rebel territory or face retaliation.
The group, with which the Tigers deny having links, claimed responsibility for a rash of deadly attacks on troops in the north earlier this year.
The military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) accuse each other of provoking near daily artillery and mortar exchanges.
''We are sure that the people of the south are fully aware of the sort of humanitarian catastrophe they would have to face if one of the dams in the south were to burst,'' the suspected front said in a message faxed to Reuters overnight.
''Our retaliation may be anywhere and at any time.'' SCHOOL DISRUPTION THREAT It said it could also disrupt schools in the south if Tamil students' exams were delayed in Jaffna, which is cut off from the rest of the island by rebel lines. The group did not say what form the disruption would take.
Analysts said the threats should be taken seriously and feared the Tigers could turn to guerrilla tactics from the more conventional warfare the foes have been fighting in the north and east since the civil war flared up in late July.
''It is definitely the Tigers using another arm to set the ground for something they are planning,'' Iqbal Athas, an analyst with Jane's Defence Weekly, told Reuters on Monday.
''I would think an attack becomes inevitable in the current scenario,'' he added. ''It is a frightening scenario.'' The first peace talks in eight months collapsed a week ago over a rebel demand that the government reopen the main north-south highway which runs through Tiger territory to Jaffna, as each side accused the other of abuses.
The government said on Monday it would probe a host of unsolved murders, abuses and disappearances, including the slaughter of 17 aid workers, with the help of foreign observers amid growing outrage among rights groups and the international community.
More than 65,000 people have been killed in the conflict since 1983, including more than 1,000 dead servicemen, around 500 civilians and an estimated 1,000 rebel fighters since December alone.
REUTERS AKJ RN2345
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