LTTE attacks towards Palaly military base

Colombo, Aug 21: The Tamil Tiger rebels today fired several rounds of long-range artillery shells towards the government's main military base in the Northern Jaffna peninsula, resulting in panic and tension among the general public in the war-ravaged region, sources here said.

''The LTTE have fired artillery shells towards Palaly camp today around 0845 hrs. At least ten LTTE shells have landed in the general area of Palaly, but there were no casualties to the troops there,'' a defence official here told sources over the phone.

Claiming that the LTTE was firing shells from rebel-held Pooneryn region, the official said the military has retaliated the LTTE attack using artillery and Multi-Barrel-Rocket Launchers (MBRLs).

''The situation is back to normal there in Jaffna now,'' the military official said.

Residents from Jaffna town said over phone that government troops and the LTTE were locked in heavy artillery exchanges this morning, creating a tension in the area.

''We could hear deafening artillery firings that went on for over an hour. We did not know what was happening,'' a resident said.

Although both the government and the LTTE have not officially abrogated the five-year long Norwegian-brokered Ceasefire Agreement, analysts say that they were virtually engaging in an undeclared war since April 2006.

Over 4000 people have been killed due to high scale of violence since December last year.

UNI