Sri Lankan rebels accused of gunning down civilians

 

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger guerrillas on Tuesday ot dead 17 civilians and wounded nearly 70 others fleeing territory still under rebel control, military spokesperson Udaya Nanayakkara said.

Survivors of the attack who arrived at a military post told how Tiger fighters had fired on a group of 1 000 people trying to cross the frontlines to safety, he said.

"The civilians came to an army position carrying the 17 dead and 69 others who had gunshot injuries," Nanayakkara said.
According to the government, increasing numbers of non-combatants are attempting to escape from the rebels, who face imminent defeat in their decades-long armed struggle for an independent Tamil homeland.

Among those wounded in the attack were 27 women and 11 children, the military spokesperson said.
It came a day after a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber killed 30 people at a centre for fleeing civilians, in another apparent attempt to stop them from leaving.

But thousands of Tamils are crossing the frontlines in the north of the island each day, the government has said, as it pushes on with a massive offensive to crush the Tamil Tigers after 30 years of unrest.
Sri Lanka accuses the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) -- as they are formally known -- of using the civilians as "human shields".
Monday's suicide bombing was condemned by the United Nations and the United States, which backed Colombo's stance, saying that the attack was an "apparent effort by the LTTE to discourage Tamils from leaving the conflict area".

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-02-10-sri-lankan-rebels-accused-of-gunning-down-civilians