Sri Lankan Rebel Air Raids Show
War Not Over -- Reuters
War Not Over -- Reuters
COLOMBO (Reuters) - Dual Tamil Tiger air raids on Sri Lanka's capital and a northern military base show the guerrillas are not out of the fight despite the government's confidence it is close to ending the 25-year-old civil war.
Analysts said the raids by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's (LTTE) ramshackle air wing followed a familiar pattern of giving the rebels a morale boost when they appeared under pressure in the northern war zone.
The military has been steadily advancing into Tiger-held territory in northern Sri Lanka with the aim of ending one of Asia's oldest insurgencies. The military on Wednesday said troops had captured the Jayapuram area after heavy clashes.
The Tigers are fighting to create a separate homeland for Sri Lankan Tamils, many of whom complain of marginalisation by successive governments led by the Sinhalese majority since independence from Britain in 1948.
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FACTBOX - Facts about Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger air wing -- Reuters