The Times | Sri Lankan forces came under intense international pressure yesterday to stop shelling a “no-fire” zone, where the UN estimates that between 150,000 and 190,000 Tamil civilians are holed up with the remnants of the Tamil Tiger rebels.
 (photo: AP) |
As British Tamils continued their protest in London, the four countries, which are trying to mediate in the 26-year civil war, discussed “how best to end the futile fighting without further bloodshed”.
Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, warned that civilian casualties were “skyrocketing”, citing a doctor who reported that more than 120 people had been killed in the zone in three days. “Sri Lanka’s so-called ‘no-fire’ zone is now one of the most dangerous places in the world,” said Brad Adams, the group’s Asia director.
Thangamutha Sathiyamoorthy, the leading doctor inside the no-fire zone, has accused the Government of shelling a hospital in the area, killing 22 people, including an 18-month-old child, and injuring 283 others on Wednesday. The army denies that and says that the doctor is being intimidated by the Tigers.
Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, also telephoned President Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka to express concern after a UN human rights official warned of an imminent bloodbath.
Sri Lankan officials denied shelling the no-fire zone and said that they were mounting the world’s largest hostage rescue operation to save the trapped civilians who, it says, number fewer than 50,000. However, they have not allowed most independent journalists, human rights groups and aid workers to visit the front line. The Times has not been granted a journalist’ visa since August.
The Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for an independent homeland for ethnic Tamils to protect them from discrimination at the hands of the Sinhalese majority. After a year-long offensive, the army is on the verge of defeating the group in conventional terms, having pinned down the last few hundred of its fighters in the zone.
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