SRI LANKA: Despite peace talk pledges, military fires rockets towards Tamil Tiger in Northern Jaffna , forcing thousands to evacuate.

Sporadic exchanges of artillery and mortar fire continue on Sri Lanka's Jaffna peninsula, the birthplace of many top Tamil Tiger fighters which is regarded as the cradle of the island's minority Tamil population. The rebels who were driven out in the mid-1990s, want their territory back. The army has captured Tiger territory on the southern lip of the strategic northeastern harbour of Trincomalee and says it has pushed the rebels back around a kilometre from their forward defence lines in Jaffna. Heavily armed troops man razor wire checkpoints, a curfew is on and food and fuel are in short supply -- but life in Sri Lanka's northern Jaffna peninsula is gradually adapting after weeks under siege. Residents have been hardened by years of civil war. They barely flinch as the military fires outgoing artillery rounds at Tamil Tiger rebel positions. The military is shipping emergency stocks of rice and dry rations to the peninsula -- which is cut off from the rest of Sri Lanka by rebel lines -- but aid workers say it is not enough, and prices in shops have sky-rocketed. Thousands of people displaced by the worst fighting between the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) since a 2002 truce, are living in churches and schools on the peninsula. The only road south runs through Tiger terrain and is cut off. Civilian flights have stopped for fear the rebels will shoot them down and travelling by ship means running a gauntlet past the rebels' feared naval arm, the Sea Tigers. Jaffna town is a maze of ruins from years of past shelling even before the latest fighting. Areas of the town's 17th century Dutch fort ramparts -- now a makeshift military helipad -- are off limits because land mines still lie hidden years on. The military is gradually evacuating, by ship, hundreds of people who were visiting Jaffna or studying there, when the fighting broke out in August. The evacuees pray the Tigers and the government hold to pledges to resume long-stalled peace talks. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) organised a ship to evacuate foreign aid workers and foreign passport holders a month ago but thousands of Sri Lankans were stranded. Most of them have taken refugee in the main army base in Palali awaiting navy ships to evacuate them to the eastern port of Trincomalee. "I came from Dubai on the twenty-eighth of July to visit my wife and children. I have been stranded here for almost 20 days. Now the army has made arrangements for me to get to Colombo. The army has been providing food accommodation and medical assistance until the ship arrives" says Ponnaraja Rajkumar who is among the thousands of people stranded in Jaffna. The Tigers and government each accuse the other of trying to force a full-blown return to war. Analysts fear the fighting will grind on. And in the middle, civilians pay the price. "We provide maximum security and all other facilities to innocent civilians who have been stranded in Jaffna. I take care of the women who are here" says army Lieutenant Dhnanjanee Hettiararachchi. "This is the third time the Sri Lankan navy is going to transfer civilian people stranded in Jaffna and are required to go elsewhere in the country. When such organisations like the ICRC was unable to carry out such a task the Sri Lanka navy undertook the task purely on humanitarian grounds" says commander K.S.Paul. The navy is using one of their troop transport ships to evacuate the civilians -- most of them are minority Tamils who live in the south of the country. The ship can carry 800 passengers and fearing attacks by Tamil Tigers, the naval craft is escorted by navy gun boats.

ITN Source | September 22, 2006

Tags:. .population. .lip. .barely. .arrangements. .task