2006年VOA标准英语-Sri Lankan Military Strikes Against Tamil

（单词翻译）

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
26 April 2006
 

Soldiers stand guard at the entrance of the Sri Lankan army headquarters  
  
Sri Lanka's military has launched fresh strikes on Tamil Tiger rebel areas in the country's north, a day after the rebels were blamed for a deadly suicide bombing.  European truce¹ monitors are warning the escalating² violence is a threat to the ceasefire that halted a bloody³ ethnic⁴ conflict in the country four years ago.  

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A military spokesman in Colombo said warplanes fired at rebel bases after the Tamil Tigers attacked naval⁵ patrol craft in the eastern port town of Trincomalee.

It was the second straight day that the military attacked the rebels in the northeast.  On Tuesday, hours after a suicide bombing blamed on the rebels critically wounded the country's army commander, the military attacked rebel bases with air force planes and mortars⁷.

A government spokesman warned of "coordinated⁸ retaliation⁹ by the armed forces" if the rebels continue to attack. 

The strikes are the first official military action since a 2002 cease-fire halted years of fighting, and are widely seen as retaliation for the suicide attack.

The rebels say the military attacks have killed at least 12 civilians¹⁰.  The military said at least three civilians were killed in overnight by rebel mortar⁶ attacks.   

The spokeswoman for the European team monitoring the truce, Helen Olafsdottir, says the 2002 cease-fire is near the breaking point.

"They are on the brink¹¹, and if they do not stop this violence immediately now, then we could see this country plunging¹² back to war," she said. "There is no doubt about it."

In a televised address to the nation late Tuesday, President Mahinda Rajapakse said he did not want to return to war, but would not be cowed by bomb attacks.  He said the government's desire for peace should not be mistaken for weakness.

The spokeswoman for the European team says both sides appear to be "squaring things up" after a bout¹³ of violence that has seen nearly 100 people, including soldiers and Tamil civilians, killed in the last two weeks.  She says the future of the battered¹⁴ truce hinges on a lowering of tensions.

"Will they calm down and realize that you cannot square things off in such a way, or are we going to see further escalation¹⁵ in violence?" Olafsdottir asked.

The cease-fire was reached in 2002, but the peace process has been virtually deadlocked¹⁶ for the past three years due to a series of disputes between the two sides.  The rebels want an autonomous¹⁷ homeland in the northeast for the country's minority Tamil community, but some in Mr. Rajapakse's coalition¹⁸ say the Tamils have been given too many concessions¹⁹ already.