Tiger rebels claim 42,000 Tamil civilians are trapped
Tamil Tiger rebels today said they had appealed to Norway for help in getting food and other essentials to 42,000 civilians trapped in fighting between the insurgents and Sri Lankan government forces.
“We have urged Norway to address the humanitarian needs of the civilians trapped here ... it is getting serious,” said senior rebel leader Seevarathnam Puleedevan.
The appeal came on the second day of fighting in the North-East, where the military is trying to secure a waterway after a dispute with the rebels triggered some of the worst clashes since the two sides signed a Norwegian-brokered cease-fire in 2002.
The fighting yesterday left 61 combatants dead, according to the two sides.
Norwegian Embassy spokesman Tom Knappskog declined to comment on the specific request.
“I can say that we are in close contact with the government and the LTTE as we have been all along,” Knappskog said, referring to the rebels by the initials of their formal name, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Puleedevan said help was urgently needed for civilians who could not move because of the presence of Sri Lankan forces.
Earlier Puleedevan accused the Sri Lankan military of a second day of attacks on rebel-held areas. “Our field military commanders are reporting a continued Sri Lankan offensive today,” Puleedevan said.
Military spokesman Maj. Upali Rajapakse said the intensity of fighting today was lower compared to the day before. There were no known casualties on the military side today, he said.
Rajapakse said the military was defending its position near the reservoir and the waterway. “Our operation will continue until we fully secure the whole area,” to stop the rebels from closing the gates again.
Nordic cease-fire monitors said there had been no initiative from either side to stop the violence.
“It is useless (to try to stop the fighting) if there is no initiative from the parties,” said Thorfinnur Omarsson, spokesman for the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission. “And both parties have shown no initiative.”
The Tamil Tigers began fighting in 1983 for a separate homeland for the country’s 3.2 million Tamils, saying the ethnic minority can only prosper away from the domination of the 14 million Sinhalese majority. The cease-fire put a temporary halt to the bloodshed, but the truce has nearly collapsed with almost daily violence in recent months.
Yesterday, the Sri Lankan infantry and air force attacked rebel positions near the reservoir from the ground and the air, triggering a rebel retaliation and heavy fighting.
The military says it lost six soldiers in fighting yesterday, but the pro-rebel TamilNet Web site put the government death toll at 41.
Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan was quoted by TamilNet as saying that the rebels lost 10 soldiers. But the Defence Ministry said at least 20 rebels were killed.
The rebels closed sluice gates at the reservoir on July 20, after accusing the administration of reneging on a pledge to boost water in rebel-held areas. Water is now flowing from the canal in Trincomalee district after the blockade was lifted earlier this week.
