By IANS,
Washington : Diaspora groups of Sri Lankan Tamils have condemned both Colombo and the Tamil Tigers for the civilian deaths caused by war in the island nation’s north.
In a joint statement, the organisations accused the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of having “callous disregard for the safety and welfare of civilians trapped in the crossfire in Mullaitivu”.
“We demand (that) the government and the LTTE immediately prioritise the safety of these quarter million civilians to prevent the humanitarian catastrophe that has begun to unfold in northern Sri Lanka,” said the statement signed by the Sri Lanka Democracy Forum and other organisations.
The statement followed allegations by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that hundreds of people have been killed in the military advance into LTTE areas in Sri Lanka’s north.
The statement said that Tamil civilians were suffering “untold hardship (while) fleeing aerial bombardment and artillery shelling with inadequate access to food, shelter and medicine.
“The LTTE is responsible for forcing the civilian population to retreat with them into parts of Mullaitivu under its control,” it added.