EFE. Colombo.

La aviación de Sri Lanka ha bombardeado esta madrugada un colegio. Al menos cuarenta y tres niñas han muerto y sesenta han resultado heridas en el ataque, según ha afirmado la guerrilla tamil. El bombardeo se produjo en la zona de Paranthan, al norte del país. En esos momentos un grupo de alumnas se encontraba en el centro escolar recibiendo un curso de primeros auxilios.

El bombardeo aéreo comenzó sobre las siete de la mañana hora local (1:30), según los rebeldes Tigres de Liberación de la Patria Tamil (LTTE).

Los portavoces de los guerrilleros han calificado el ataque en la página web Tamilnet de "acto horroroso de terrorismo". También han instado al Fondo de Naciones Unidas para la Infancia (UNICEF) y a otras agencias internacionales presentes en el área a visitar el lugar para comprobar lo acontecido.

El consejero de Defensa del presidente ceilanés, Palitha Fernando, ha insistido en que el ejército "nunca ataca a civiles". Ha dicho que, hasta que se tenga confirmación del bombardeo por otra fuente autorizada, no puede comentar nada de las acusaciones del LTTE. Le acusa de tener "tendencia a inventar y exagerar cosas".

Mientras, una potente bomba ha explotado en la capital del país, Colombo, matando a cuatro militares y tres civiles. El suceso se ha producido a escasos cien metros de la residencia oficial del primer ministro ceilanés, Ratnasiri Wickremanayake.

Sin respeto al alto el fuego

Más de ochenta mil personas han huido de sus hogares en el distrito nororiental de Trincomalee en las últimas dos semanas, desde que el pasado 26 de julio comenzaron los bombardeos de las posiciones de la guerrilla en esa región. Todo comenzó cuando los guerrilleros bloquearon una presa que riega terrenos bajo control gubernamental.

Los cuatro donantes de Sri Lanka, Estados Unidos, la Unión Europea, Japón y Noruega, han instado al Gobierno de Colombo y a la guerrilla tamil a "suspender inmediatamente las hostilidades y regresar a la mesa de negociación".

Los enfrentamientos entre ambas partes durante el último mes han sido los peores desde la firma del alto el fuego en 2002. Ninguna parte ha anunciado su retirada del acuerdo de cese de hostilidades.

Desánimo de la fuerza internacional

Estas nuevas agresiones suponen serios contratiempos para el ya muy debilitado proceso de paz en la isla y la frágil tregua que aún se mantiene teóricamente en vigor.

La Misión de Supervisión de la Tregua en Sri Lanka (SLMM) ha acusado al Gobierno y al LTTE de no querer en realidad su asistencia sino tan sólo un "disfraz político".

El jefe del organismo, Ulf Henricsson ha aconsejado la finalización de sus funciones en el país. "¿Para qué estar aquí y arriesgar a veces nuestras vidas cuando las partes no nos quieren. Ellos sólo quieren un disfraz político", ha afirmado Henricsson según el diario Daily Mirror.

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COLOMBO.- La guerrilla tamil ha denunciado la muerte de cuarenta y tres niñas en un bombardeo aéreo sobre un centro de enseñanza en el distrito de Mullaitivu, en el norte del país. De confirmarse, este sería uno de los ataques más graves desde 2002.

El ataque se produjo en la zona de Paranthan, que fue bombardeada esta mañana por las Fuerzas Aéreas del país, lo que causó la muerte de las escolares que recibían entrenamiento en asistencia médica primaria en una escuela en esta zona.

Según los rebeldes Tigres de Liberación de la Patria Tamil (LTTE) el bombardeo aéreo comenzó sobre las siete de la mañana hora local (1.30 GMT).

Según informa la página web Tamilnet, los portavoces de los guerrilleros han descrito el ataque como "un acto horroroso de terrorismo" y han instado al Fondo de Naciones Unidas para la Infancia (UNICEF) y a otras agencias internacionales presentes en el área a visitar el lugar para comprobar lo acontecido.

El consejero de Defensa del presidente ceilanés, Palitha Fernando, insistió en que el Ejército "nunca ataca a civiles" y dijo que hasta que se tenga confirmación del bombardeo por otra fuente autorizada, no podía comentar nada de las acusaciones del LTTE, que según dijo, "tiene tendencia a inventar y exagerar cosas". No es la primera vez que los guerrilleros denuncian una masacre similar. El pasado día 10 acusaba al Gobierno de causar la muerte de medio centenar de civiles en el noreste de Sri Lanka.

El agua, causa del enfrentamiento

Más de ochenta mil personas han huido de sus hogares en el distrito nororiental de Trincomalee en las últimas dos semanas, desde que el pasado 26 de julio comenzasen los bombardeos de las posiciones de la guerrilla en esa región, después de que esta mantuviese bloqueada una presa que riega terrenos bajo control gubernamental.

Los cuatro donantes de Sri Lanka, Estados Unidos, la Unión Europea, Japón y Noruega, han instado al Gobierno de Colombo y a la guerrilla tamil a "suspender inmediatamente las hostilidades y regresar a la mesa de negociación". Los enfrentamientos entre ambas partes durante este tiempo han sido los peores desde la firma del alto el fuego en 2002, y sin que ninguna parte anunciase su retirada del acuerdo.

La tensión ha aumentado dramáticamente en la isla en las últimas semanas y la guerrilla tamil ha reiterado en varias ocasiones que considera la actitud del Gobierno un regreso a la guerra y ha pedido a la Misión de Supervisión de la Tregua que declare el fin del Acuerdo de Alto el Fuego, en vigor en la isla desde febrero de 2002.

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have accused government forces of bombing an orphanage, killing 61 schoolgirls and injuring 150 other children.

The rebels said the air strike took place in the rebel-controlled northern district of Mullaitivu.

The government has denied the attack, saying the air force had targeted an LTTE training camp.

Hours later, a bomb explosion in the capital Colombo killed seven people and injured 17 others.

The Tamil Tigers' military spokesman, Irasaiah Ilanthirayan, told the BBC they were not responsible for the blast.

There has been fierce fighting between government forces and Tamil Tigers in the north and east in recent days.

'A lie'

Military officials said the rebels had infiltrated the Jaffna peninsula and hit residential areas in their attacks on the army, and that the air force was attacking to support ground troops fighting rebel advances in the area.

"It is a lie to say that schoolchildren were targeted," government spokesperson Chandrapala Liyanage told the AFP news agency.

"The air force had bombed a LTTE training centre. We don't know if they had moved child soldiers there".

The Tamil Tigers said the victims, who were aged between 15 and 18, were attending a first aid seminar.

Thorfinnur Omarsson, spokesman for the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, told AFP it had received a complaint from the rebels and a team was on its way to investigate.

Junko Mitano, of the United Nations children's agency (UNICEF), told the BBC it had confirmation children had been killed in Mullaitivu.

She declined to give further details, saying a statement would be issued on Tuesday.

The government has also denied rebel accusations that its forces killed at least 15 people in an attack on a church in the predominantly Tamil village of Allaipiddy on an island just west of Jaffna.

'Target'

In the Colombo blast, a powerful mine exploded near the official residence of President Mahinda Rajapakse as a convoy, including a Pakistani embassy vehicle, went past.

The Pakistani ambassador, Bashir Wali Mohamed, was returning from a flag-raising ceremony for Pakistan's Independence Day when the explosion happened. He was not injured.

Mr Mohamed told the BBC's Urdu Service he believed he was "surely the target".

He said he thought this was because of the Pakistani government's support of the Sri Lankan government in its war against terrorism.

The Tigers have ruled out peace talks with the government while heavy fighting continues between the two sides.

Aid agencies say about 100,000 people have been affected by the latest fighting - 60,000 people have fled their homes and 30,000 are trapped in the east.

Sri Lanka's northern Jaffna peninsula has seen more heavy shelling and artillery fire as government forces and the Tigers battle for control of key areas.

The recent flare-up in fighting has alarmed Sri Lanka's key foreign donors - the US, Japan, the European Union and Norway - who have called for an immediate end to the hostilities, which they said was "seriously unravelling" the 2002 ceasefire agreement.

The ceasefire aimed to halt more than two decades of war between the government and the rebels, who are fighting for an independent homeland for the country's minority Tamil people in the north and east.

It remains officially in effect, despite months of violence.

By Simon Gardner (additional reporting by Peter Apps and Ranga Sirilal in COLOMBO and Simon Cameron-Moore in ISLAMABAD)

COLOMBO, Aug 14 (Reuters). Tamil Tigers attacked a Pakistan embassy convoy killing seven people on Monday, the Sri Lankan military said, and the two sides traded accusations over whether air raid victims were innocent teenagers or rebel fighters.

The bomb attack on the diplomatic convoy came hours after the Air Force attacked the grounds of a former orphanage, in a raid the Tamil rebels said killed 61 schoolgirls aged 15-18 and injured 155 as they were receiving first aid training.

The military dismissed the claim, saying its jets had bombed a rebel training camp and killed 50-60 Tiger fighters. The military posted a photograph on its Web site which it said depicted Tamil schoolgirls taking weapons training.

Nordic truce monitors said that at the scene they had seen the bodies of just 19 youths, both male and female, aged 17-20. The United Nations Children's Fund said it had not had access to the dead, but that those injured were aged 16-19.

The incident came as the rebels and military fought artillery battles in the far north in the worst fighting since a 2002 truce which has given way to renewed civil war.

The blast in the capital, Colombo, was the second in a week. Officials said it looked like a suicide attack.

Four military personnel and three civilians were killed in the explosion, which bomb squad officials said was caused by a fragmentation mine inside a three-wheeled taxi. Seventeen others were injured.

"Definitely it's an LTTE (Tamil Tiger) attack to the Pakistan ambassador's car but they missed and the backup vehicle got caught", a military spokesman said.

"It is perhaps because we support the (Sri Lankan) government", Pakistani High Commissioner Bashir Wali told Reuters. "We are against terrorism everywhere. It is all in that context, I think".

A defence analyst offered other theories.

"Pakistan has been providing military hardware to Sri Lanka for some time", he said, adding: "I wouldn't rule out mistaken identity. It could be an opportunistic attack when they saw the military people in the car".

The government brought the start of the school holidays forward two weeks to Tuesday, which teachers said was because of security fears. And South Africa's cricket team wants to pull out of a triangular series and return home, team sources said.

The High Security Zone Residents Liberation Force, a presumed Tiger front group that says it wants the army out of civilian areas, said if the military targeted minority Tamils then bombs would explode in the majority Sinhalese south.

DEATH TOLL CLIMBING

Aid workers estimate around 100,000 people have been displaced during three weeks of fighting. Dozens are confirmed dead, and many fear the eventual death toll will be far higher.

On Monday the government accused the rebels of shelling civilian areas in the northern Jaffna peninsula. It said 88 troops had been killed in the area so far.

"They have mingled with civilians and are calling artillery fire onto the areas of the security forces", said Major Upali Rajapakse of the National Security Centre. "It is falling in and around civilian areas. There has to be civilian dead".

He said the country's east was quiet but artillery rained down on Kayts island, just to the west of Jaffna town, and was being fired across a no-man's land that separates government from rebel territory around 20 miles (32 km) to the east.

Jaffna residents flocked to shops to stockpile food after the army briefly lifted a curfew. With no prospect of fresh supplies from the south, prices of basic goods were soaring.

"We are used to being displaced, but this time it came about so suddenly we were ill-prepared", said 50-year-old fisherman Ledil Amaldas, who fled his coastal village and is staying with a relative in Jaffna.

Many of Sri Lanka's most prominent Tamils come from Jaffna and analysts say the Tigers are bent on eventually capturing a town that they have controlled in previous phases of a war which has killed more than 65,000 people since 1983.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was "profoundly concerned" and urged all sides to return to the negotiating table, allow aid agencies free access and let civilians leave contested areas, a spokesman said.

The blast in the capital shook buildings and the country's financial markets, with the Colombo stock market .CSE falling 2.4 percent.

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