Thousands in Lanka flee imminent battle

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s military captured a strategic rebel-held town in the island’s restive east on Friday as more than 10,000 refugees fled the area and Tamil Tiger rebels cut a retreat after weeks under siege.

The capture of Vakarai — a town around 240 km northeast of Colombo that belongs to the rebels under the terms of a tattered 2002 ceasefire — comes after weeks of fierce fighting between the Tigers and the military, who have vowed to evict them from the east altogether. “Vakarai has fallen,” said military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe.

“They are withdrawing to the north. We are checking the civilians who are fleeing in case the Tigers have infiltrated them and try to come and attack government areas. We want to help the civilians get back to resettle there immediately,” he said.

Nordic truce monitors confirmed Vakarai had fallen. There was little in the way of resistance, aside from some smalls arms and mortar fire. The military had recovered one rebel body so far, while nine other Tiger fighters were killed in a separate clash further south in Batticaloa district.

Some on foot, others on tractors, thousands of refugees left the northeastern coast town of Vakarai at dawn and headed south towards government-held territory a few miles away, some carrying white flags. “Some of the people are making their way down the coast, others are coming through jungle in vehicles,” said Selvaraj Jeyaraj, project coordinator for the Italian Red Cross, told Reuters by telephone from Batticaloa.

“We are talking about 12,000 internally displaced, more or less,” he added. Around 5,000 people had reached a main army checkpoint, while 3,000 others were stuck further inland, unable to cross a large river.

The United Nations confirmed the exodus from Vakarai, from which 20,000-25,000 refugees had already fled in recent weeks. Vakarai is in the middle of a 20-km stretch of rebel-held territory, which the military surrounded after capturing rebel areas in a series of battles in recent months.

The rebels still control some nearby villages. “Thousands of people are streaming out,; said UN spokeswoman Orla Clinton. “Because we haven’t had access (to Vakarai) since November 29, food has been very short — these people are obviously weak and afraid and we are looking for assurances their protection will be assured.”

Aid agencies, embassies and journalists have been clamouring for weeks to access rebel-held areas. The government has refused.