By Xinhua,
COLOMBO : Sri Lanka’s military said Thursday that another safety zone has been declared for the civilians trapped in the island’s northern battle zone to come to the government controlled areas.
“The Sri Lankan security forces headquarters in Wanni, in response to the worsening plight of the thousands held hostage by LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) terrorists in Mullaittivu, has declared a new civilian safety zone, with effect from Thursday,” the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
The aim of the new 12 km long safety zone along the Mullaittivu western coast is to facilitate flow of humanitarian aid and medical supplies for the people stranded with the LTTE, said the statement, adding that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been informed of the new safety zone.
The government declared a similar safety zone on Jan. 21, but very few civilians left rebel-controlled areas.
The government accuses the LTTE of holding civilians as human shields in the last battle theater of Mullaithivu, but the LTTE says the civilians are retreating with them voluntarily.
There have been reports that some civilians were killed in the crossfire between the LTTE and government troops in the safety zone.
Government officials said the troops are now nearing the end of its successful military campaign against the LTTE which began in mid-2006.
The LTTE, which has been fighting for an independent Tamil homeland in the north and east for more than two decades, now finds themselves limited to less than 200 sq km of land area in Mullaittivu.
More than 70,000 people have died in Asia’s longest civil war in Sri Lanka.