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Tigers attack fleeing civilians

COLOMBO: Hours after Monday’s exodus of civilians from the No Fire Zone (NFZ) occupied by the LTTE, the Sri Lankan military said the Tigers were firing indiscriminately at citizens seeking to reach government-controlled territory.

The Defence Ministry said here the Tiger cadre initially fired at civilians on the causeway using heavy machine guns. “When they stepped into the lagoon to avoid LTTE machine gunfire, three LTTE cadres ran on to them and exploded themselves.”

The Ministry reported that over 1,000 civilians had sought refuge among the soldiers manning the northern edge of the NFZ at Plamattalan, south of Challai.

It said the troops had captured an LTTE-built earthen bund north of the NFZ on Monday, reducing the Tigers’ firepower. “Aerial observations indicated nearly 3,000 civilians have been rushing towards the northern boundary of the NFZ along the coastline. Later, a large group of people attacked the LTTE cadres who attempted to stop them and crossed over to the army-line amid LTTE small arms fire.”

The Navy said its sea units deployed in the northeastern coastal waters had rescued 92 boats with over 1,500 civilians. Navy units were escorting 80 boats to the Point Pedro harbour and another 12 boats to Pulmoddai.

Navy spokesperson D.K.P. Dassanayake said: “The Sri Lanka Navy detected a cluster of small boats coming out of the NFZ early this morning with LTTE attack boats firing at them. Having identified that refugees were being attacked by the LTTE, Navy sea units have separated the terrorist boats from refugee boats by tactically manoeuvring in between them.”

The Presidential Secretariat said as the influx from the NFZ continued in the thousands, President Mahinda Rajapaksa had instructed the Commissioner, General of Essential Services to ensure that food, medicines and other essential commodities be provided in adequate quantities to the people.

The President instructed that all persons injured in suicide bomb attacks, explosions and shooting by the LTTE to prevent civilians from leaving the NFZ, be given immediate medical assistance and flown to hospitals for treatment.

“This surge of civilians is an apt response to all those calling for a temporary pause in the humanitarian military operations of the government or a longer ceasefire, to enable the Tamil civilians to flee the armed grip of the LTTE. The record has shown that such well-intentioned pauses are non-effective with the ruthless terrorists of the LTTE,” the statement said.

The LTTE, in a statement, welcomed what it termed as “a refreshing attitude” on the part of the U.S. and urged the Sri Lankan government to listen to international opinion, stop the war and enter into negotiations. The pro-LTTE TamilNet in a report said that at the same time the LTTE warned Colombo of dire consequences if the war continued.

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