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2,000 civilians said killed in Lanka shelling
[Bangla Daily Star] Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels yesterday accused the government of killing more than 2,000 civilians in 24 hours of artillery attacks, but the military denied the allegations.The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said in a statement posted on the Tamilnet website that the army had unleashed a devastating offensive on the small coastal patch of land that the rebels still control. "More than 2,000 innocent civilians have been killed in the last 24 hours," Tamilnet quoted S. Pathmanathan, the rebels' chief arms smuggler, as saying. The website said 257 bodies had been brought to a makeshift hospital that was overwhelmed with hundreds of injured casualties. Many of the dead were "found in bunkers and inside the tarpaulin tents," it said. The military dismissed the claims as propaganda, and said the guerrillas themselves had carried out the attack using mortars "to tarnish the image of the security forces in the eyes of the public nationally and internationally." Defence officials reported on Sunday that troops had advanced further despite fierce rebel resistance. The Sri Lankan army also said it had uncovered a bizarre contraption that could have been intended as an underwater bunker for the elusive leader of the rebels. The 360-foot (110-metre) long railway carriage-like construction may have been designed to be wheeled under the sea as a hiding place for Velupillai Prabhakaran, the army said. Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake told parliament last week that Prabhakaran, 54, was still leading his men. Prabhakaran has not been seen for more than 18 months, and speculation has been rife that he may have been killed or already fled the island. Posted by: Fred 2009-05-11 |
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