COLOMBO, Reuter: Three people, including a child, were killed and 16 wounded when security forces fired mortar bombs at Tamil guerrilla positions in Jaffna, residents in the northern city said.
‘They said the attack followed a clash between rebels and security forces at Jaffna military camp in which both sides used mortars. No casualties were reported.
A spokesman for the state run media center said he had no information about the clash in Jaffna, stronghold of guerrillas fighting for a separate state in north and west Sri Lanka for the Island’s Tamil minority.
Authoritative sources said Indian High Commissioner (Ambassador) Jyotindra Nath Dixit met President Junius Jayewardene and discussed Sri Lanka’s proposals 10 resolve the conflict. They said he sought clarification of a statement by Jayewardene on Thursday which seemed to indicate a shift in stance.
Jaywardene told a public rally laws to implement his proposals, giving limited autonomy to Tamil areas through devolving power to elected provincial councils, would not be presented in Parliament until guerrillas ended violence.
The sources quoted Jaywardene as telling Dixit he was only explaining the difficulty of holding elections in the midst of the violence. They said Dixit also explained efforts by India, acting as mediator between Tamil groups and the Sri Lankan government, to help find a solution.
The conflict between Sinhalese and Tamils, who form 13 per cent of the Island’s 15 million population, has cost more than 4,000 lives in the past three years.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 17, 1986
