SRI LANKA: Thousands of civilans flee Sri Lanka's eastern battle zone to escape from violence

As thousands of Muslim Sri Lankans arrived in the town of Palathopur on foot and trucks, fighting continued in their hometown of Mutur--where the Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam (LTTE) have been locked in firefights with the military for days. The Red Cross estimates some 20,000-30,000 people fled south from the town of Mutur on Friday (August 4) for towns close to it, leaving behind them a town devastated by days of fighting between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels. Women in head scarves cried and wailed, while some men stoically clutched the Koran. People were thirsty and tired from their long journey but most of them wanted to move further south and west away from the violence. Most of the explosions in the background seem to be far away, but many screamed and ran for cover after shells or mortars fell nearer, perhaps only two or three miles north, where the roads are still clogged with people. Some of the displaced said shells fell near them as they walked out of the ruined town. No-one Reuters talked to saw anyone killed during the evacuation, but some aid workers said there were reports of up to 20 dead. Some had clearly been wounded by explosions in Mutur. An ambulance carried two young babies, less than six months old, one with blast wounds to the face. "When the rockets hit the refugee camp we were in, we ran. We left everything behind. 4 people in the camp died including my brother," said 35-year-old Abdul Azziz. Northeast Sri Lanka is home to a volatile mix of Sinhalese, Muslims and Tamils. Some residents of mostly Muslim Mutur said Tamil residents had been told by the Tigers to flee weeks ago. "When the fighting started we took refugee at the Hindu college. Few hours after we took refugee a series of shells hit the school.Then we fled from the camp and went further away. But even there we were shelled. We don't know who shelled us. Firing was coming from both the government side and the tiger side" said 25-year-old water board employee M.A. Jevahir, anxiously trying to keep an eye on his family amongst the throng of thousands taking shelter under trees and in abandoned buildings. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which has fought for two decades for a separate Tamil homeland in the north and east, evicted the Muslim population of the northern Jaffna peninsula in the mid-1990s. Eastern Muslims have always feared a repeat. Getting help in is hampered by ongoing fighting and ethnic tension. The windows on a Red Cross vehicle were smashed by a Sinhalese mob during the day. Majority Sinhalese hardliners accuse international aid workers of only helping Tamils. "What the Norwegian government has done is to strengthen the LTTE and not the tamils muslims and the sinhalese people of this country. The Norwegian government approved and supports everything the Tigers do. There aim is to divide this country. Our request to Norway is to allow us to solve our problems and leave our country" reverend Karadhoglle Pachchasekase, a buddhist priest who was also fleeting the fighting. At the same time, fighting is continuing both around Mutur and also around the rebel-held water sluice gate that sparked the confrontation last month when irrigation was turned off to some 50,000 farmers in government territory. Fields in the area are now dry and crops stunted. While the fighting continues the Norwegian peace envoy Hanssen Bauer arrived in Sri Lanka in an attempt to save the Nordic peace monitoring group. The LTTE have asked EU members of the group to leave by September first in protest against the EU naming the organisation as a terrorist group. While feeling hardened among the majority sinhalese, the government still insist that it wants a negotiated settlement "I hope that Mr.Bauer will be able to talk to the LTTE and take the message from us that yet again we remain committed to the ceasefire agreement and a negotiated end to this conflict and we hope that Mr.Bauer will be able to convince the LTTE that the only way out of this situation is through talking, through negotiations" Palitha Kohona, the head of the government peace secretariat said. President Mahinda Rajapakse summoned a meeting of all political parties to brief them on the situation in the east and once again reiterated his commitment to peace. "The president stressed that while safeguarding national security he has not given up the hope of solving this problem peacefully" Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told journalists after the meeting. In rear areas, soldiers just back from the front sit under trees or slump on their rucksacks, grime and exhaustion on their faces. Other soldiers burn scrubland near the main roads to reduce the risk of Tiger ambushes while Russian MI-24 attack helicopters fly low towards the battlefield. Disturbingly, there is no sign of Tamil civilians in Mutur district, all of whom are said to have fled to rebel territory that has now been under heavy rocket fire for days. Aid workers say they have no idea of what may be happening there.

ITN Source | August 5, 2006

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