Tamil rebels Sunday accused the military of firing into a government-demarcated safety zone in north-eastern Sri Lanka, killing over 2,000 civilians during the past 24 hours. The military rejected the accusation, according to dpa. S Pathmanathan, the head of international relations for the Tamil rebels, claimed that bombardment by military planes and shelling was taking place in densely populated areas in the north-east of the country. In a statement posted on the pro-rebel Tamilnet website, Pathmanathan said the Tamil people were dismayed that the United Nations and the international community had failed in their obligations to protect the endangered civilians. A medical doctor based in the rebel-controlled area confirmed heavy fighting since Saturday evening and said he could hear artillery exchanges in the Karaiyamullivaikal area, 395 kilometres north-east of the capital. The doctor, Veerachchami Shanmuagaraja, told the German Press Agency dpa by telephone that 257 bodies had been brought to the makeshift hospital where he was based. A Tamilnet later reported that 378 bodies had been brought to the hospital. The doctor said over 800 wounded persons had also been brought in, but he lacked the medicine to treat them. He said his hospital was set up in a school. He said the dead included women and children. He could not confirm that all the bodies were of civilians. Shanmuagaraja said that he would have to await the arrival of a ship chartered by the International Red Cross to evacuate the injured. But the time of the ship's next arrival is unknown. The last evacuation ship took more than 500 injured and ill persons, plus other civilians, out of the area on Saturday. Chief military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara denied the pro-rebel media reports and said 700 civilians were rescued by the army and brought into government-controlled areas on Sunday. He said that the security forces had not fired into the safety zone, which has been demarcated as a place for civilians to gather in order to facilitate government-run rescue operations. The Defence Ministry, in a separate report, said heavy combat took place amid stiff resistance against advancing troops, but that troops were able to breach the rebel defences and inflict heavy damage. It did not mention any casualty figures. "Intercepting LTTE (rebel) communication channels, Electronic Warfare sources confirmed that numbers of LTTE terrorists were killed during the fighting while many received injuries," it said. The government also re-established an area known as the safety zone in order to enable civilians to gather in preparation for rescue operations. The zone is limited to about three square kilometres, out of an area of six square kilometres in which the rebels and civilians are confined. According to military sources, the government was set to step up military operations to rescue some 20,000 civilians held in the area and crush the rebels. However, UN agencies say the number of civilians trapped in the area may be over 50,000. In a related incident, a Tamil rebel military spokesman who sustained injuries in a military attack on Saturday succumbed to his injuries on Sunday, the Tamilnet said. The spokesman, identified as Punitharooban, alias Illanthirayan, was 43. He was a senior member in the organization with both military and political experience. The military says it is in the final phase of defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who have been fighting for an independent homeland for minority Tamils in the northern and eastern parts of the country.
