It comes just two days after Tamil rebels staged an unexpected aerial attack, dropping bombs from a propeller plane in their first-ever air strike at a military airfield just 30 kilometers northwest of the capital, Colombo. Three people were killed.
The escalating violence prompted a call by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to break the cycle of attacks. He also urged the government and rebels to resume negotiations.
Both sides have ignored a 2002 cease-fire deal. Thousands have died in the renewed fighting.
Tamil Tiger rebels have been fighting for more than two decades to carve out a separate homeland in Sri Lanka's north and east. - VOA News
