By Bharatha Mallawarachi
The Associated Press
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A thick line comprising thousands of Sri Lankan civilians — with only a handful of backpacks for belongings among them — streamed out of the last sliver of land held by rebels on Monday, April 20.
Video footage provided by the air force showed some fleeing to a nearby beach and others heading to a military-controlled area.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa called the exodus the “largest-ever hostage rescue mission in history.” In a televised speech, he said the military had made the escape possible by opening up several new routes from the Tamil Tigers’ last holdout.
But a pro-rebel Web site said hundreds of civilians were feared killed in the “total chaos” that prevailed when the soldiers entered the zone.
It is not possible to verify any of the claims because the war zone is restricted to journalists. Footage given to A.P. Television News by the air force showed an orderly exit.
Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said soldiers advanced into the zone and seized a fortification built by the rebels before rescuing the civilians.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the civilians’ escape but said he was deeply concerned about those still trapped and “the potential for large-scale casualties,” U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe said Monday at U.N. headquarters in New York.
“He deplores the continued use of heavy weapons in the vicinity of civilians and the use of force by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in preventing the departure of civilians from the conflict zone,” she said.
Ban also said the U.N. and other aid workers must be allowed into the area to help civilians.
U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood called the humanitarian situation “dire.
“We call on both the government and the Tamil Tigers to cease this violent activity, to protect civilians in the safe zones,” Wood said.
The move by Sri Lanka’s military came as the government warned the rebels it would launch a final assault in 24 hours and urged the rebels to surrender before noon the next day. It also came just days after the military imposed a unilateral two-day cease-fire to encourage civilians to flee. Only a few hundred left at that time, prompting the government to renew accusations that the rebels were holding civilians against their will to use as human shields.
The charge was also levied by aid groups, though the rebels denied it. It was not possible to contact the rebels for comment.
The U.N. says 100,000 civilians are trapped in the war zone measuring only 7.7 square miles (20 square kilometers).
The U.N. also estimates that some 4,500 noncombatants have been killed in the last three months amid fierce fighting.
Footage shot by APTN showed men, women, and small children resting on a beach in Puttumattalan, on the northeastern coast, after fleeing the war zone. The military estimated the vast majority of those who fled Monday — more than 25,000 — headed instead to a military-controlled area where they were being screened.
The U.N. and others have called for a negotiated cease-fire to allow the civilians to leave. The government has rejected such calls, saying it’s on the verge of crushing the 25-year insurgency.
The government said Monday that rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and his fighters have 24 hours to surrender before a final assault — one of many such promises that troops will soon end the conflict.
Defense spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said the government’s preferred option is to catch Prabhakaran alive and said the ultimatum was a final opportunity for the leader to end the conflict.
Rambukwella said the rebel leader’s capture or death has now become “inevitable” because he will soon lose his civilian cover.
“He (Prabhakaran) doesn’t have that option now,” Rambukwella said. “Our first option is to capture him and bring him before the law.”
In recent months, the military has ousted the Tamil rebels from all their strongholds in an all-out offensive, forcing the rebels to retreat to the “no-fire” zone for a final stand.
The Tamil rebels have been fighting to create an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils, who have faced decades of marginalization by successive governments controlled by ethnic Sinhalese. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the violence. (end)