Civilian casualties mount as Lanka goes all out to finish Tigers

Concerns have grown over the safety of civilians trapped inside rebel-held territory amid a Government offensive aimed at crushing the Tamil Tigers. The Red Cross estimates 250,000 civilians have fled to the jungle where fighting is taking place.

Thurairajah Varatharajah,the top Government health official in the Mullaittivu district,said by telephone that at least 1,140 civilians 248 of them below than 15 years were wounded in the fighting and brought to three hospitals in the district,according to official figures from those hospitals.

The number killed was difficult to count because many civilians had stopped bringing dead relatives to the hospital amid the heavy fighting,he said.

In my opinion,there are a lot of deaths. More than 250 to 300, he said,adding his estimate was based on reports from residents who came to the hospitals from the war zone.

Earlier,a letter in Varatharajahs name with similar estimates had been sent to The Associated Press by another Government health official,who had provided accurate information in the past. Varatharajah said he had not written the earlier letter.

The Sri Lankan Government fumed over an appeal for medical supplies doing rounds in the media and diplomatic circles,claiming that 300 Tamil civilians were killed and 1,000 injured in Mullaittivu,terming it as a hoax and a total fabrication.

The appeal,widely distributed through e-mail,said heavy fighting and continuous multi-barrel artillery shelling has resulted in more than 300 internally displaced persons being killed and over 1000 hundred injured in Suthanthirapuram Udaiyaarkaddu and Vallipuram in the Mullaitivu district.

It urged the Government of Sri Lanka,the ICRC,the UN and the international community for urgent medical supplies.

It said Thurairajah Varatharaja,who is purported to be the originator of this appeal,has denied any association with it and stated that its contents are false and exaggerated.

It has not originated from him or his office,and that he does not agree with its contents, the statement said.

Athula Kahandliyanage,Secretary in the Health Ministry,said the 2009 first quarter of drugs to Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi has been sent. The Mullaitivu supplies are awaiting road clearance and will be delivered soon.

He said the appeal has been issued by destructive elements with sinister motives to embarrass the Government.

In yet another setback to the beleaguered Tamil Tigers,Sri Lankan troops on Wednesday fought their way into the nerve centre of LTTEs artillery power near northern Mullaittivu amid fierce resistance,even as they killed 20 guerrillas in separate clashes,the military said.

The troops,on the final leg of their offensive against the rebels,entered the Visuamadu junction,the launch pad from where the Tigers targeted them with long-range artillery.