Thousands flee fighting in northeastern Sri Lanka
TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka - (AP) Thousands of civilians were trying to escape fighting in Sri Lanka - 's northeast on Friday, with the most desperate among them walking through forests to find a safe haven, a Red Cross official said. A convoy had been dispatched to try to get to the refugees, said ICRC's Sri Lanka - chief, Toon Vandenhove.
The area is particularly dangerous and largely off-limits because of the fighting. Muttur, a government-controlled town edged by rebel-held villages and jungle, is located on a small peninsula, and travelers must cross several ferries or take land routes that are often helled.
But the rebels said they were arranging for safe passage for the refugees.
``We are making necessary arrangements to move civilians from Muttur to safer locations,'' the pro-rebel Web-site TamilNet quoted Irasiah Ilanthirayan, the rebels' military spokesman, as saying. It was not clear what arrangements they were making.
Sri Lanka - already has an estimated 800,000 internally displaced refugees as a result of the two-decade civil war between the government and rebels, who took up arms in 1983 over discrimination against Sri Lanka - 's 3.2 million minority Tamils by the country's Sinhalese majority. The Tigers say they are fighting for a Tamil homeland.
The war killed about 65,000 people before the Norwegian-brokered a cease-fire in 2002, which left parts of the north and east under rebel control.
While the agreement officially remains in effect, escalating violence since December has killed at least 900 people, half of them civilians.
Over the past few weeks, the violence has spiked even further, and the latest fighting in and around Trincomalee was sparked by the rebels' decision to cut off water supplies from a reservoir to government-held villages in the northeast. The military responded with airstrikes and a ground assault.
There were no immediate reports of casualties from Friday's shelling in Muttur. The rebels and government forces have blamed each other for artillery attacks Thursday on three schools that killed 18 residents sheltering there.
Also Friday, a Tamil playwright who wrote and directed dramas that extolled Tamil history and culture was fatally shot in the northern port of Jaffna, police said.
In Vavuniya, also in northern Sri Lanka - , a roadside bomb planted by suspected rebels wounded three policemen, and a rebel was killed when security forces responded to the blast, military officer Col. Ravipriya de Silva said.
Both Jaffna and Vavuniya are under government control, but lie close to rebel territory.
In another attack Friday, a breakaway rebel faction killed five mainstream guerrillas in the eastern town of Batticaloa, said T. Thuyavan, a spokesman for the renegades.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has expressed serious concern over the escalating violence, and has called on the parties to stop fighting.
The Tigers, meanwhile, were preparing to hand over, through the Red Cross, the bodies of about 40 Sri Lankan soldiers killed in the Muttur fighting, the pro-rebel TamilNet Web site quoted rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan as saying.
The government has acknowledged the death of just eight of its soldiers in Muttur.
AP reporters Vincent Jeyan in Jaffna, Dilip Ganguly, Bharatha Mallawarachi in Colombo, Sri Lanka - , contributed to this report.
Sri Lanka fighting claims more lives
More civilians have been killed in clashes between Tamil Tiger rebels (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan army bringing the death toll to 28 over the last two days, miltary officials have said.
Five more civilians and two soldiers were killed on Friday in artillery fire in the northeastern town of Muttur.
While shelling continued, thousands of Muslims have been fleeing the city of Muttur, south of the port city of Trincomalee, a Tamil stronghold, since fighting broke out last Wednesday.
"We just got information that they have started moving. According to information in Mutur, everyone will leave - that's 6,000-7,000 families," said Yvonne Dunton, head of the Trincomalee office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Five more Muslim Civilians Killed
Five Muslim civilians were killed in artillery fire that hit a school in Muttur town. The civilian victims were about to leave the school when artillery shells began hitting civilian areas, according to civilians who have fled the area. 22 civilians were killed Thursday in indiscrimate artillery fire. (Courtesy : TamilNet)
MUTTUR MUSLIMS IN GRAVE CRISIS,OVER 40 KILLED-HAKEEM
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) national leader Rauff Hakeem MP apprising the media today (Wednesday) on the civilian crisis that has emerged due to continuing Government-LTTE fighting in Muttur, Trincomalee said that food, water, medial care and other humanitarian assistance were not reaching the people and they are in a desperate condition. He said that over 40 Muslim civilians of the pre-dominantly Muslim town were killed and over one hundred people were seriously wounded in artillery shelling and crossfire in fighting during the last three days. Muslims people who were feeling on foot via Kantalai and Palathoppu had also come under artillery shelling this afternoon at an LTTE check points and to make things worse the LTTE had already detained over a 100 Muslims for reasons unknown, he disclosed.
An assurance was given to the SLMC at a meeting yesterday at the Presidential Secretariat attended by Presidential Advisor Gothabaya Rajapakse and army chiefs that artillery shelling and hostilities would be suspended for enabling humanitarian assistance to reach the affected people but this assurance was not honored and the shelling were continuing, the SLMC leader said. When artillery shelling staged from army camps hit an LTTE check point where fleeing Muslims were being checked, five Muslim civilians were killed on spot and several others were wounded this afternoon, he disclosed. At these check point the LTTE was detaining certain Muslim civilians for unknown reasons, he said. Hakeem said that no measures whatsoever were being taken to evacuate the affected people or to provide them food, medical care and other humanitarian assistance. Even artillery shelling were staged at a building where the affected people had taken shelter, he said. According to the affected people, the artillery shelling in all cases were staged from SL army camps, he said.
He said that they were earnestly appealing to both the Government forces and the LTTE to enforce a temporary cessation of hostilities by way of a respite for food, drinking water, medical care and other humanitarian assistance to reach the affected people. The LTTE Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi was contacted through the Norwegian Ambassador and they showed the green light for humanitarian assistance to reach the affected areas under the escort of the ICRC and consequently the ICRC proceed with convoys of relief, including 03 buses and two ambulances yesterday but they were not allowed to proceed beyond a point in Kantalai. The ICRC would again try to convince the authorities concerned on the immediate need to proceed to the affected areas, he said.
The SLMC was in constant touch with the government authorities, the Norwegian Embassy, the ICRC, and SLMM on arrangements for providing humanitarian assistance to the affected people, he said. They were also in touch with the local political, social and religious leaders of the affected areas to get information on the latest situation and were closely monitoring the situation, he said. The SLMC itself was organizing dispatch of relief assistance which it would dispatch as soon as possible, he said.
The SLMC leader said that their party was meeting foreign diplomats in Colombo to persuade them to exert diplomatic pressure on both the Government and the LTTE for a temporary Cessation of Hostilities. They are meeting Indian High Commissioner Ms Nirupama Rao this evening at 6:30 p.m., he said adding that they would be meeting other diplomats in the next few days. The SLMC would take up this issue at the All Party Conference as well in the parliament at a special adjournment debate, he said. They would also meet co-chairs of the donor countries and the Organization of Islamic Countries to persuade them to exert pressure on the warring sides
