3RD LEAD

SLAF bombs broadcast tower in Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 October 2006, 10:38 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir bombers Tuesday destroyed the main broadcast tower and transmitter of the Thamileelam Radio that broadcasts the official broadcast of the Liberation Tigers, the Voice of Tigers (VoT), Thamileelam Vanoli, a commercial Tamil service and a Sinhala language broadcast. Political Head of the LTTE, S.P. Thamilchelvan, who visited the broadcast station along the A9 Road in Kokkavil, 15 km south of Kilinochchi, charged the Sri Lankan Government for attacking the broadcast station with a "planned agenda to suppress the freedom of expression prior to the talks scheduled in Geneva."



LTTE Political Head S.P. Thamilchelvan visited the attack site and condemned the Sri Lanka Air Force bombing as a planned attack on Freedom of Expression. The broadcast station broadcasts Thamileelam Radio in Tamil and Sinhala from Vanni and the Voice of Tigers. The radio stations continued to broadcast the services.

Two employees were wounded in the attack.

Sri Lankan bombers dropped bombs and fired mortars, hitting the tower and the building 25 times, destroying the main 500 feet high broadcast tower and the main transmitter at Kokkavil Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m.

3 million USD (more than 300 million Sri Lankan rupees) worth of broadcast equipments were damaged in the attack, according to officials at Thamileelam Radio.

However, the Thamileelam Radio and VoT continued their broadcasts as usual.

An electricity generator, and two vehciles of the station were also destroyed in the attack.

Rajasingham Surendran, 23, from 4th Mile Post, Murasumoddai and another employee identified as Harithas wounded in the bombardment, were rushed to Kilinochchi Hospital.

Harithas was in unconscious state due to the shock caused by explosion, medical sources said.