More fear voiced for Sri Lanka civilians
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Tens of thousands of civilians trapped in Sri Lanka's northern war zone face a catastrophic situation, the Red Cross said yesterday, amid fears a final assault against the Tamil Tiger rebels would lead to a dramatic rise in casualties.
The United Nations and others have called for a truce to allow civilians to leave the rebel-held coastal strip - and the government says more than 52,000 have escaped since Monday.
But it has refused to heed international pleas to halt the fighting, saying it is on the verge of crushing the separatists and ending the 25-year-old war.
The UN estimates that more than 4,500 civilians have been killed in the past three months.
The rebels said more than 1,000 civilians died Monday in a government raid, while the government said it rescued thousands after they broke through a barrier built by the insurgents that protects the Tigers' last stronghold.
Human rights groups say the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are holding many people in the enclave against their will and using them as human shields. Those activists have also accused the government of indiscriminate shelling in the region. Both sides deny the allegations.
Thousands of civilians also fled on Monday in packed small boats, and they were picked up by navy patrols and transported to camps where Tamils who have escaped the war are being held. More than 2,000 people in about 100 boats were picked up.
The Red Cross said about 50,000 civilians were still stranded. Human Rights Watch estimated it could be up to 100,000.
A worker for Doctors Without Borders said hundreds of wounded were arriving at her hospital in Vavuniya, south of the war zone, in government-arranged buses, and some had died en route. The hospital, with only 400 beds, is now accommodating 1,200 people, the group said.
It was impossible to get independent accounts of casualties because journalists are restricted from the war zone.
The number of fleeing civilians made it clear that the government had vastly underestimated how many people were caught in the fighting.
"Both sides need to show far greater concern for civilians, or many more civilians will die," said Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch, a group based in New York.
A final government offensive "could lead to a dramatic increase in the number of civilian casualties," the International Committee of the Red Cross said.
"The situation is nothing short of catastrophic," said Red Cross operations director Pierre Kraehenbuehl.
