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Tamil Tigers ready to use chemical weapons: Sri Lanka PM |
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21:41, September 04, 2007 |
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels are bracing to use chemical weapons against government troops, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka told parliament on Tuesday.
"We have evidence that the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) has plans to use chemical weapons against the security forces. During the past several weeks the security forces have detected them transporting large quantities of acid," Wickramanayake said.
He said the rebels' action was a violation of the international law governing military warfare.
There was no immediate response from the LTTE regarding the accusation.
The prime minister said timely action by the defense authorities to detect the rebels transporting acid in large quantities had thwarted LTTE plans to use chemical weapons to create mass destruction.
Wickramanayake also told parliament that 21 soldiers and 27 civilians had been killed in the island's separatist armed conflict during the last thirty days.
He added that 190 soldiers and eight civilians had been injured in the violence during the said period.
The clashes in the island's separatist armed conflict has become more Northern Province focused since the government in mid- July claimed that the entire Eastern Province had been cleared of the LTTE.
More than 5000 people have been killed in the escalation of the conflict since the end of 2005.
The Norwegian backed process of direct negotiations and the cease-fire agreement now exist only on paper.
The LTTE has been fighting the government since the mid-1980s to establish a separate homeland for the minority Tamils in the north and east claiming discrimination at the hands of the Sinhala majority.
Source: Xinhua
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