The Sri Lankan government said Monday it will continue to liberate innocent civilians from the grip of the rebel Tamil Tigers while keeping the doors open for meaningful negotiations.
Defense Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters that the government "will not shirk this responsibility and will take every action to safeguard every single citizen of the country from terrorism."
However, he said the doors are widely open for meaningful negotiations with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) .
The spokesman's remarks came one day after the security forces took control of Silavatura in the northern Mannar district from the hands of the LTTE.
The government said about 6,000 civilians had been liberated through the military operation.
Rambukwella said that when President Mahinda Rajapakse assumed duties, peace talks were resumed but the LTTE did not cooperate making lame excuses.
Government troops in mid-July claimed that the entire Eastern Province was under their control.
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.
Nearly 70,000 people have died in the conflict during the last two decades.
Conflicts between the two parties have been escalating since December 2005, with more than 5,000 people killed and the Norwegian backed peace process derailed.
Source: Xinhua
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