03-11-2007, 08:42 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Battles Rage in Lanka</b>
Deccan Chronicle, March 11, 2007
Chennai, March 10: Over 40,000 Tamils fled their homes in the LTTE-controlled Paduvankarai area in Batticaloa district in east Sri Lanka in the last 48 hours as government troops fired heavy artillery and stepped up attacks in what is widely seen as a decisive phase in Colomboâs strategy to weaken the Tamil Tigers by pushing them out of the eastern region, reports reaching here late on Saturday said.
The fleeing families are piling into makeshift refugee camps at schools and other public areas of the district, which is already loaded with over 90,000 people displaced by the current phase of stepped up war, the reports added.
âBatticaloa is experiencing another tragic humanitarian crisis without the attention of the international community,â said Batticaloa district parliamentarian S. Jeyanandamoorthy. TamilNet quoted the MP expressing distress over the âmassive displacement of civiliansâ taking place from Kokkaddicholai area as the artillery barrage by the Sri Lankan military from Batticaloa town, Vavunathivu, Chenkalady, Murakkoddanchenai and Kiran continued since Thursday morning.
âSri Lankan forces are deliberately targeting civilians under the pretext of fighting the Tigers in Batticaloa district,â said the Tamil MP, urging the international community to exert pressure on the Mahinda Rajapakse government to call off the artillery onslaught. Meanwhile, a government spokesman said the strategy of weakening the LTTE by pushing the Tigers out of the eastern region, taking advantage of the Karuna factor, would continue and âall efforts are being taken to minimise civilian sufferingsâ. However, independent reports from the battle zone spoke of terrible turmoil among the civilian population fleeing homes carrying the barest minimum of belongings.
The worst hit were families which had old people and infants among them, said an eyewitness. The LTTE has charged the government with expanding the theatre of war to the whole island âby continuing its policy of war and openly engaging in a massive aggression against civiliansâ in the Tiger-controlled areas of Batticaloa. The LTTE had defeated STF troopers trying to open a third front on Friday from Pullumalai while state forces tried hard to capture Unnichchai area in the district. International relief workers in Batticaloa were finding it tough coping with the increased influx of IDPs (internally displaced persons) since it caused further strain on the limited resources.
Eyewitnesses said the Army was trying to push the IDPs from Vakarai out of their camps to return home, promising that the situation had returned to normalcy in these government-controlled areas. But the people are reluctant to leave as their region had witnessed over 200 civilian deaths and others wounded in the five-month military offensive to âclearâ Vaharai and adjoining areas. While observers expressed fears of a new offensive in the two-decade war that has killed almost 70,000 people (some of them here are even talking of the final war for Eelam), the LTTE last Monday warned of a bloodbath unless the international community persuaded Colombo to hold its fire.
âWe are aware that the Sri Lankan Army has amassed military hardware close to Manalaru in preparation for a major offensive towards Mullaitivu. The consequences of this offensive will be a catastrophic bloodbath across Sri Lanka,â LTTE political wing leader Thamilchelvan said. âWe have exercised tolerance at high cost. We sincerely believe that the international community has realised our tolerance has reached its limits. We warn that Colombo is courting national disaster by misinterpreting our patience for military weakness,â he said.
http://deccan.com/home/homedetails.asp#Battles Rage in Lanka<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Deccan Chronicle, March 11, 2007
Chennai, March 10: Over 40,000 Tamils fled their homes in the LTTE-controlled Paduvankarai area in Batticaloa district in east Sri Lanka in the last 48 hours as government troops fired heavy artillery and stepped up attacks in what is widely seen as a decisive phase in Colomboâs strategy to weaken the Tamil Tigers by pushing them out of the eastern region, reports reaching here late on Saturday said.
The fleeing families are piling into makeshift refugee camps at schools and other public areas of the district, which is already loaded with over 90,000 people displaced by the current phase of stepped up war, the reports added.
âBatticaloa is experiencing another tragic humanitarian crisis without the attention of the international community,â said Batticaloa district parliamentarian S. Jeyanandamoorthy. TamilNet quoted the MP expressing distress over the âmassive displacement of civiliansâ taking place from Kokkaddicholai area as the artillery barrage by the Sri Lankan military from Batticaloa town, Vavunathivu, Chenkalady, Murakkoddanchenai and Kiran continued since Thursday morning.
âSri Lankan forces are deliberately targeting civilians under the pretext of fighting the Tigers in Batticaloa district,â said the Tamil MP, urging the international community to exert pressure on the Mahinda Rajapakse government to call off the artillery onslaught. Meanwhile, a government spokesman said the strategy of weakening the LTTE by pushing the Tigers out of the eastern region, taking advantage of the Karuna factor, would continue and âall efforts are being taken to minimise civilian sufferingsâ. However, independent reports from the battle zone spoke of terrible turmoil among the civilian population fleeing homes carrying the barest minimum of belongings.
The worst hit were families which had old people and infants among them, said an eyewitness. The LTTE has charged the government with expanding the theatre of war to the whole island âby continuing its policy of war and openly engaging in a massive aggression against civiliansâ in the Tiger-controlled areas of Batticaloa. The LTTE had defeated STF troopers trying to open a third front on Friday from Pullumalai while state forces tried hard to capture Unnichchai area in the district. International relief workers in Batticaloa were finding it tough coping with the increased influx of IDPs (internally displaced persons) since it caused further strain on the limited resources.
Eyewitnesses said the Army was trying to push the IDPs from Vakarai out of their camps to return home, promising that the situation had returned to normalcy in these government-controlled areas. But the people are reluctant to leave as their region had witnessed over 200 civilian deaths and others wounded in the five-month military offensive to âclearâ Vaharai and adjoining areas. While observers expressed fears of a new offensive in the two-decade war that has killed almost 70,000 people (some of them here are even talking of the final war for Eelam), the LTTE last Monday warned of a bloodbath unless the international community persuaded Colombo to hold its fire.
âWe are aware that the Sri Lankan Army has amassed military hardware close to Manalaru in preparation for a major offensive towards Mullaitivu. The consequences of this offensive will be a catastrophic bloodbath across Sri Lanka,â LTTE political wing leader Thamilchelvan said. âWe have exercised tolerance at high cost. We sincerely believe that the international community has realised our tolerance has reached its limits. We warn that Colombo is courting national disaster by misinterpreting our patience for military weakness,â he said.
http://deccan.com/home/homedetails.asp#Battles Rage in Lanka<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->