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More civilians cross over

COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan military on Tuesday claimed troops had recovered 72 more bodies of LTTE cadre killed while defending the last stretch of the LTTE-held land outside the “No-Fire Zone” and said 69 more civilians had crossed over into the government-controlled territory.

The government believes that an estimated 400 to 500 cadre and leaders of the LTTE, including its chief Velupillai Prabakaran, are holed up inside the Zone where hundreds of thousands of civilians are trapped.

The pro-LTTE TamilNet claimed that civilians inside the Zone had been forced to remain in bunkers as the Army stepped up shelling and long-distance gunfire since Monday.

Separately, the visiting Representative of the U.N. Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons Walter Kälin, at the end of his four-day visit, expressed concern over the safety of the internally displaced people. .

He said extraordinary efforts would be required of the government, the U.N., non-governmental organisations and donors, acting in cooperation, to successfully meet the humanitarian needs of this population.

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