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More than 11,000 civilians flee Sri Lanka fighting

(AFP)

10 April 2004

TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka - More than 11,000 Sri Lankans have fled their homes since the Tamil Tigers launched an offensive on a breakaway rebel, officials said on Saturday, as relief workers used a lull in fighting to hand out relief supplies.


At least two civilians were reported killed and many more wounded since the main Tamil Tiger group launched a major offensive Friday to re-take territory held by a renegade regional commander just south of here, officials said.

The main civil administrator in the Batticaloa district, C. Punyamoorthy, estimated the number of people who fled their homes in the troubled areas was in excess of 11,000.

About 4,000 have moved to school buildings, but others have gone to safer areas to live with their friends or relatives, Punyamoorthy said. We are making arrangements to provide them with rations for three days.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had begun handing out emergency relief supplies such as plates, cups and other cooking utensils.

We are getting manpower from the local Red Cross society to help with the distribution, ICRC spokesman Sukumar Rockwood said amid a lull in fighting.

Military sources said only sporadic firing was heard overnight after intense battles Friday afternoon near the coastal town of Vakarai, which appeared to have fallen to the main rebel group.

The defence ministry said the new government considered the break out of factional fighting a violation of a truce arranged by peace broker Norway in February 2002 between the government and the main leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

It is intended to inform the Norwegian facilitators to convey to the LTTE that this is a violation of the ceasefire agreement and the government expects to take up this issue with the LTTE leadership, a ministry statement said.

The President (Chandrika Kumaratunga) directed the chief of defence staff and service commanders to visit the area and take all necessary steps to enforce law and order, the ministry statement said.

It was not immediately clear how security forces could do so as the rebel fighting was concentrated in an area where government forces have no control.

The renegade leader, V. Muralitharan, better known by his nom de guerre Karuna, withdrew his fighters in the face of an onslaught of artillery, mortar bombs and automatic assault rifles, military sources said.

Karuna has said nine of his fighters were killed in the battles.

Aid workers and medical staff said two civilians were killed: an ambulance driver and a paramedic.

Seven child soldiers were among 15 people treated at two hospitals in Batticaloa, south of the Trincomalee port, doctors said. The Tigers have long faced international criticism for using underage fighters.

The main LTTE leadership based in northern Sri Lanka has vowed to get rid of Karuna who on March 3 broke away from the Tigers saying the LTTE ignored the interests of Tamils in the east.

The guerrillas are not known for tolerating dissent and previous challengers to the leadership of Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, 49, had been eliminated ruthlessly.

The internecine fighting broke out a week after national elections that were narrowly won by Kumaratungas Freedom Alliance, which includes hard-liners opposed to concessions to the rebels.

Kumaratunga was due to induct a new cabinet of ministers Saturday, but she is expected to retain the key defence and finance portfolios.

Prabhakarans main LTTE this week called for a revival of peace talks with the incoming government, but warned it would return to fighting if it was not granted self-rule.

Diplomats said the fresh fighting further dimmed prospects for reviving the Norwegian-brokered peace process, which has been stalled since April.

More than 60,000 people have died in the three-decade campaign by the LTTE to set up a separate homeland for the Tamil minority.