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| Sri Lanka |
| Sri Lanka: Tamils accuse govt of mass murders amid exodus |
| 2009-04-23 |
| [ADN Kronos] As thousands of civilians continued to flee the tiny rebel-held coastal strip in northern Sri Lanka on Tuesday, Tamil Tiger militants accused the government of killing about 1,000 Tamil civilians and injuring many more during its ongoing military offensive. Tamil Tiger leader S. Puleedevan told the pro-rebel TamilNet website the Sri Lankan army had begun advancing at Valaignar-madam and at Maaththa'lan, and was moving its troops shielded by hundreds of civilians who were being forced to walk through Tamil Tiger defences at gunpoint. The militants, aligned with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, claimed the army used internationally banned cluster shells, napalm and phosphorous munitions against civilians. The army was also using trapped civilians to clear landmines, the rebels claimed. TamilNet reported the Tamil-controlled territory was littered with the bodies of civilians and Tamil supporters released a video they claimed to have filmed on Monday, showing mutilated bodies. "These are serious war crimes and the Sri Lankan government and the head of the armed forces are directly responsible for this carnage," Puleedevan said. Sri Lankan troops killed more than 1,000 civilians and injured another 2,300 on Monday, according to the Tamil Tigers. They called on the Red Cross to rescue trapped civilians, to evacuate by ship over 2,000 injured people and provide medical supplies for the wounded. The Tamil Tigers also appealed for "immediate" food aid, saying civilians were facing starvation. The government has denied Tamil Tiger claims it has harmed civilians and accused the rebels of targeting civilians. By midday local time on Tuesday, nearly 50,000 civilians had fled the rebel-held area, according to the government. Aerial footage showed thousands of people filing out of the combat zone. The army has denied shelling civilians inside the rebel-held area and said rebel suicide bombings had targeted fleeing civilians and killed 17. The United Nations said around 150,000 civilians remained trapped in the conflict zone and the Red Cross said it was "extremely worried" about those trapped in the region. "What we are seeing is intense fighting in a very small area overcrowded with civilians who have fled there," said the Red Cross director of operations, Pierre Kraehenbuehl. "The situation is nothing short of catastrophic. Ongoing fighting has killed or wounded hundreds of civilians who have only minimal access to medical care." The Red Cross called on the two sides to "take immediate action to prevent further mass casualties among civilians," and said it was concerned that the government's final offensive in the area could lead to "a dramatic increase" in civilian casualties. The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday it was "ready to assist" the 100,000 civilians who are estimated to have fled to government-controlled areas from the conflict zone in recent weeks. |
| Posted by:Fred |