Fighting Intensifies in Sri Lanka

[Coventina]

Source: New York Times

HONG KONG — The government of Sri Lanka and ethnic Tamil fighters ignored a call by the secretary general of the United Nations for a cease-fire in their ongoing war Monday as soldiers battled guerrillas in hand-to-hand fighting inside a so-called safety zone that had been set up as a haven for civilians.

The government said on its Defense Ministry Web site that it had killed more than 250 Tamil Tigers during weekend fighting and 420 more in foiling an ambush Monday morning. A pro-rebel site said that Sri Lankan shelling of the no-fire zone had killed at least 71 civilians and wounded 143 over the weekend.

Also Monday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa rejected the possibility of a cease-fire and called on the rebels to surrender.

The government said its troops had taken control of the Puthukkudiyiruppu area, the rebels’ last remaining stronghold at the edge of the safety zone. A general said Sunday that the rebels had been driven into the safety zone, a small strip of beachfront jungle in the country’s northeast.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/world/asia/07lanka.html?ref=global-home