LTTE Headquarters,
                                                Tamil Eelam.
                                                17. August 1997
SPECIAL PRESS RELEASE

CONDEMNATION OF SRI LANKAN GOVERNMENT«S ATTACKS ON CIVILIANS

The LTTE strongly condemns and makes known its deepest concern over the Sri
Lankan Government«s deliberate and repeated bombing of Tamil civilians.
  
On Friday, Sri Lankan Kfir warplanes attacked the Vavunikulam Catholic
church, killing 9 civilians and critically injuring over 26 others. The
jets pounded the church building - where hundreds of Tamil refugees were
known to be sheltering - with 4 high-powered bombs, each weighing over 250
kilos each. Three people were reduced to flesh and bones to the extent
where they could not be identified. The injured include many children. 

The attack, the latest in a series of ground and air military strikes
launched against Tamil civilians, was followed within two hours by an
airforce bombing of sheltering civilians in nearby Puthuvilankulam at 11am.
Ten Tamil people were critically injured in this second raid, including a
ten-month old baby Sivananthamoorthy Kuyilini, four-year old Kunasingam
Sanjeevan and nine-year old Jeyalingam Jeyakala. The other injured include
Kanthasamy Karunakaran (25), Kukarasa Kunaratnam (25), Thevaratnapillai
Thamilselvi (25), Kunasingam Sarojadevi (35) and Thevaratnam Kamalanayaki
(40). All are in Mallavi hospital fighting for their lives. 

We strongly condemn the actions of the Government of Sri Lanka for these
atrocities and alert observers that the Sri Lankan Government is
consciously stepping up its attacks on Tamil civilians in the light of its
current military difficulties. Bombing Tamil civilians is increasingly
becoming the central component of its war strategy.

The bombing of Tamil refugees taking shelter in public places is today a
common occurrence in the north/east. We remind observers that the Sri
Lankan airforce bombed to death over 120 Tamil refugees at Navali St.
Peters church and 68 civillians including 25 school children at Nagarkoil
school soon after Eelam War III commenced. This latest Kfir massacre,
therefore, fits into the Government«s wider strategy of harming and
exterminating the Tamil people on the island.

To enact its massacres of Tamil civilians, the Sri Lankan Government makes
use of Kfir warplanes, which are Israeli-manufactured and combine the
French Mirage air-frame with American F4 Phantom 2 engines. The US navy
and US marine corps use the same under the trade name F21A. The sale of
Kfirs is subject to the approval of the American Government and we hereby
make the United States Government aware of the treacherous use to which Sri
Lanka puts these fighter planes. We earnestly appeal to the United States
Government not to authorise the sale of aircraft and other military items
to the Government of Sri Lanka, as these are being used by the Sri Lankan
Government to deliberately attack innocent civilians.

Political Committee,
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
	
(English translation of the LTTE statement released by LTTE
International Secretariat, 211 Katherine Road, London E6 1BU,
United Kingdom.  Tel:0181- 503 4294)