Sri Lankan air force bombing kills scores of students

The LTTE peace secretariat said the students were mainly girls between 15 and 18 attending a two-day residential course on first aid at the Chencholai children’s home in Vallipunam when warplanes attacked the buildings around 7.00 a.m. The wounded were taken to the Mullaittivu and Kilinochchi hospitals, but a number died later.

The military has sought to deny responsibility for this crime with lies and evasions. Defence sources initially admitted to Reuters that the air force had attacked LTTE-held territory in Mulaitivu, but refused to give any details of the targets. As news of the bombing was publicised internationally, air force spokesman Group Captain Ajantha Silva told Associated Press that the military had proof that this place was an LTTE base.

In its statement, the defence ministry denied that the air force had attacked civilian targets. “The Sri Lankan Air Force bombed at pre-identified LTTE gun positions and LTTE camps in the Mullaittivu area this morning, Monday August 14,” it declared. “Air Force personnel confirmed that the bombings were precise and well targeted.”

Speaking on Sirasa TV, Ulf Henricsson, head of the Norwegian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), contradicted the military’s claims. He said he had seen the bodies of children when he visited the scene yesterday. At least 10 bombs had been dropped, including an unexploded one. Henricsson said he saw no LTTE military camps in the area.

UN spokeswoman Orla Clinton told the media that investigators confirmed at least 19 students had been killed in the attack, adding that the agency was investigating further. “What we know at the moment is that these seem to have been students between 16 and 18, A-level students, from the Kilinochichi and Mullaittivu areas, who were on a two-day training course in first aid,” she said.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/sril-a15.shtml