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Civilians trapped by fighting in Sri Lanka

Sydney Morning Herald - January 29, 2009

A terrible humanitarian crisis is unfolding in northern Sri Lanka, where 250,000 civilians are trapped by intense combat, the Red Cross has warned.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed and scores injured as Sri Lankan troops fight Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam rebels on a narrow strip of land on the island's north-east coast.

India's Foreign Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, travelled to Colombo on Tuesday to discuss the crisis. "The Sri Lankan Government has reassured that they would respect the safe zones and minimise the effects of conflict on Tamil civilians," he said.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says the civilians in the combat zone have no safe area to take shelter and are unable to flee.

The last major rebel-held town, Mullaittivu, fell on Sunday and the army has encircled the rebels in an area of about 250 square kilometres.

According to Sri Lanka's military spokesman, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, the LTTE has about 1200 well-trained cadres left, while the Sri Lankan army has 50,000 troops deployed in the region.

Jacques de Maio, the International Committee of the Red Cross's head of operations for South Asia in Geneva, said medical services in the affected region been overwhelmed by casualties and hundreds of patients needed emergency treatment and evacuation.

"People are being caught in the crossfire, hospitals and ambulances have been hit by shelling and several aid workers have been injured while evacuating the wounded. The violence is preventing the ICRC from operating in the region," he said.

"When the dust settles, we may see countless victims and a terrible humanitarian situation."

Over the past week, pro-LTTE sources have accused the army of targeting civilians with shellfire – allegations the military strongly denies. The Government has accused the LTTE of using civilians in the conflict zone as human shields.

However, the Sri Lankan Government is under mounting international pressure, particularly from India, to protect the civilians at risk, who are mostly Sri Lankan Tamils.

Sri Lanka's President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, has invited India's leading Tamil politicians to Sri Lanka "to see for themselves the situation on the ground and to persuade the LTTE to lay down arms".

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