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| Sri Lanka |
| Sri Lanka: Refugees targeted in ŽsuicideŽ attack |
| 2009-04-21 |
| [ADN Kronos] A suicide bomber who was among thousands of civilians fleeing Sri Lanka's war zone in the country's north is reported to have set off a blast that killed at least 17 people, according to unconfirmed reports citing a defence official. The bomber was believed to be a member of the separatist Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam which is engaged in heavy fighting with security forces. "An LTTE suicide bomber has attacked thousands of Tamil civilians who are now trying to seek refuge with the Sri Lankan army, this morning," the defence ministry's website said on Monday. "Battlefield sources said at least 17 civilians, including women and children, have been killed in the cowardly bomb blast." About 5,000 Sri Lankans have fled the fighting in Tamil Tiger-held area in the north of the country, the army said. The military said people had begun to flee the conflict after the army broke through a fortification which had been blocking its advance into the Tigers' last stronghold. The UN estimates that up to 100,000 civilians are still in the area which has been at the centre of heavy fighting for several months. Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara told the media that soldiers had advanced in the region on Monday. Government forces claim to have captured most of the rebel strongholds in recent months and restricted the remaining guerrillas inside the designated zone, which measures around 20 square kilometres on the northern coast. Meanwhile, the Red Cross says since February it has since evacuated more than 10,000 sick and injured patients and accompanying aid workers from Putumattalan, in the area held by the LTTE. Ferries chartered by the Red Cross have made a total of 23 trips, each carrying more than 400 people, to Trincomalee and Pulmoddai in government-controlled areas. "These evacuations have saved many lives," said Morven Murchinson, the Red Cross' medical coordinator in Sri Lanka. "It is vital that they continue because more sick and wounded people are arriving every day at the makeshift medical facilities in Putumattalan, which lack the staff and supplies needed for adequate care." But the Red Cross said civilians in the conflict zone continued to be at risk due to the extremely poor security conditions there. The few remaining medical facilities in the area have been directly affected by the fighting, with both staff and patients killed and wounded in recent days, it said. |
| Posted by:Fred |