Colombo: The humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka is worsening with the government now saying they can't ensure the safety of civilians in Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled areas.
Colombo has asked the over 2,50,000 civilians trapped in Mullaitivu to flee the war zone because the battle is in it's 'decisive stage' and civilians' safety won't be the government's responsibility.
"The government calls on all civilians to enter the demarcated 'safety zone' as soon as possible. It is unclear how the tens of thousands of people caught up in the fighting can escape. The rebels prevent people from leaving the area," a statement by the government said.
Meanwhile, rare images of those caught in the battle zone have come out even though journalists have been barred from entering the conflict-hit area.
Video footage and photographs by independent observers show patients at the Puthukkudiyiruppu Hospital, which is one of the last functioning healthcare centres where people had to cram themselves on mats, underneath beds, as it got overcrowded.
Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said that radio announcements were made asking people to evacuate the area and move to safe zones over a month ago.
"We have demarcated a safety zone within the LTTE area and have asked all civilians to move into it. For the last 2 years we have had no civilian casualties. There was no place for civilians to go once the military started moving up. We have provided medical facilities throughout and have evacuated Puthukkudiyiruppu where LTTE leaders are hiding. So how can we save the hospitals? We have stopped firing in the area," said Rajapaksa.
he also claimed that the area was full of LTTE sympathisers.
"There are no independent observers, only LTTE sympathisers. Radio announcements were made and movement of civilians started a month and a half ago," he said.
Meanwhile, the UN Spokesperson in Colombo Gordon Weiss said that the fighting has forced many civilians to move into small pockets which are controlled by the LTTE.
"Hundreds of civilians have been trapped. What the Defence Secretary said is true to a certain extent. Government of Sri Lanka made considerable efforts in the last one and half years of fighting and made sure that civilians are not hurt in combat. Civilian casualties were low then but the situation has changed and people have been forced into small pockets and government is in quandary since LTTE is also in the same pockets. What they decide we don’t know but we do know that they have cleared a no-fire zone. They are encouraging people to move in on there. There have been considerable numbers of civilians who have been killed or wounded in the last couple of weeks. They can live easily in the no-fire zone but the question is whether they are being allowed to move in there," said Weiss.
On Sunday at least nine patients were killed and 20 others injured when artillery shells hit the hospital in Puthukkudiyiruppu, sparking fresh concerns over security of trapped civilians, even as 46 LTTE cadres died in fierce fighting with Sri Lankan troops.
The hospital, situated in rebel-held territory of Puthukkudiyiruppu in the Wanni region and housing around 500 patients, suffered direct hits in two separate shelling on Sunday afternoon, aid agencies said.
The shells, which fell into the paediatrics and women's wards other than a kitchen and a chapel, killed nine patients and wounded 20, Red Cross spokeswoman Sarasi Wijeratne said.
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