HUNDREDS OF civilians were killed when the Sri Lankan army launched a concerted assault on an area it had just designated a safe zone, a doctor working inside the so-called “no-fire” zone in the north of the country said yesterday.
He claimed at least 378 people were killed and 1,212 injured in a series of attacks on Saturday night, which included shelling from positions held by government forces. If true, that would make it the bloodiest day since the government launched its campaign to destroy the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at the start of the year.
The death toll is likely to rise because the figure from the medical staff only includes bodies brought to the hospital.
The assault started on the same day the Sri Lankan government ordered the tens of thousands of civilians still trapped by the fighting to move into an area just 1.2 miles [1.9km] long and less than a mile wide to enable it to flush out the remaining rebels. The shrinking of the “safe zone” meant some families had to abandon bunkers they had dug in the sand.
According to a UN source, most of the people who were killed were inside the new “no-fire” zone. The official said many were believed to have died in an airstrike at about 5.30am yesterday.
Medical staff working in makeshift facilities inside the zone said the shelling began on Saturday evening. One doctor said shelling started at 5pm and continued until 9am yesterday. It appeared the shells were fired from government positions in Mullaitivu, he said.
He said the dead included a man who worked as a nurse at the hospital and seven members of his family, who were killed when a shell hit the bunker where they were sheltering. “The shells were landing about 300m from the hospital,” he said. “All the time, we have casualties coming in. We don’t have time to think.” He said the dead were being buried in large pits holding 30 or 40 bodies.
He ended the telephone interview without giving his name, saying he had to deal with an eight-year-old boy who had just been brought in and required immediate surgery on his wounds.
Another doctor, V Shanmugarajah, said 1,122 people had been wounded in the artillery barrage. “We are doing the first aid and some surgeries as quickly as we can. We are doing what is possible. The situation is overwhelming. Nothing is within our control,” he said. The pro-LTTE TamilNet website claimed about 2,000 people had died, while the government denied having anything to do with the shelling. The claims cannot be verified because independent journalists are barred from entering the area of the fighting.
The difficulties in reporting the situation in the north of the country were highlighted yesterday by the deportation of three members of a news team from Channel 4 arrested in Trincomalee, south of the no fire zone, on Saturday. The government accused them of fabricating a report that women were subjected to sexual abuse in the internment camps holding fleeing civilians.
The number of people trapped inside the “no fire zone” is in dispute, with the government putting the figure at no more than 20,000, while a UN official said up to 100,000 might still be trapped.
The government has repeatedly denied using heavy weapons against civilians inside the zone. Last month, it said its forces would use only small arms in pursuit of the LTTE. However, reports from medical staff, supported by pictures and videos apparently showing explosions and large-scale casualties, contradict those claims. A report from Human Rights Watch on Saturday accused the government of hitting hospitals with air and artillery attacks.
The government says the attacks are the work of the LTTE. – ( Guardianservice)