RON REDMOND, spokesman for the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR yesterday called on the Tamil Tigers to 'immediately allow' civilians to move to safe areas. Redmond said more than 63,000 people have fled since the fighting began, and that his agency was stepping up its emergency response to meet the needs of the displaced. The United Nations yesterday renewed its call for a pause in fighting between Tigers and troops in order to allow civilians trapped by the conflict to flee.
THE GOVERNMENT is not prepared to give into International and domestic pressures and abandon the on going operations to free thousands of innocent civilians taken hostage by the ruthless terrorist Prabhakaran, Defence Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said yesterday in Kandy. He said the Government has the biggest responsibility to free these civilians than any other Government or State and the best effort is currently being made to fulfil this responsibility by the Government. “No one will be allowed to breath life into the dying LTTE and no amount of pressure could deviate the Government from its current stance,” Rambukwella assured commenting ....
THERE SEEMS to be less civilians getting out during the [New Year] pause than before. So it is clear that LTTE did not allow those who wished to leave even if they wished to leave the area during this pause to do so, they seemed to be actively prevented from doing so, perhaps more actively prevented from doing so during this pause, so that is a matter for great regret,” said UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Sir John Holmes, at a briefing on the situation in Sri Lanka at the UN, New York, April 15. “We believe they should be allowing people, encouraging people to leave the no fire zone.
MULLAITTIVU: TROOPS on search and clear operations in the general area of KOKKUTHUDUWAI, MULLAITTIVU Friday (17) evening recovered a decomposed dead LTTE terrorist, one LTTE motor bike and fifty rounds of Multi Purpose Machine Gun (MPMG) ammunitions. Meanwhile, Army troops in PUTHUMATHALAN and KARIYALWAL also recovered eight claymore mines,...
MULLAITTIVU: ONE more batch of four hundred and sixty-six civilians including the injured, feeble adults and patients were ferried to PULMODDAI on Friday (17) late evening on the “Green Ocean” vessel, operated by the ICRC in coordination with government authorities. Meanwhile, one hundred and thirty more people from the “No Fire Zone” escaped LTTE grip and reached north of PUTHUKKUDIYIRUPPU safely for their lives Friday (17) evening. The group included thirty-two men, thirty-eight women and sixty children.
COMMANDER of the Army Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, along with a few senior officers of the Army Headquarters, flew to Vavuniya to review the status quo in the ongoing operations against terrorists. Army Commander after being received by Commander Security Forces Headquarters Wanni (SFHQ-W) Major General Jagath Jayasuriya, was conducted to the SFHQ auditorium where he met senior ground Commanders and discussed the present security situation in remaining Tiger controlled areas....
MULLAITTIVU: A RECORD two thousand eight hundred and thirty eight besieged civilians in the PUTHUMATHALAN “No Fire Zone” exited from the grip of LTTE terrorism and escaped into troop-held areas in PUTHUKKUDIYIRUPPU Saturday (18) by about 7.30 in the evening as this report was pasted. Ground troops in PUTHUKKUDIYIRUPPU confirmed a huge exodus of people is on the way as the day was coming to an end on Saturday (18)....
MULLAITTIVU: TOTAL number of IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) reached the cleared areas north of PUTHUMATTALAN Saturday (18) rose to three thousand two hundred and eighteen by evening.