Sri Lanka clashes

THOUSANDS of civilians fled clashes between soldiers and Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka yesterday, and at least five were killed by artillery fire.

With the country’s worst fighting in four years stretching into a fifth day, soldiers and insurgents traded mortar fire throughout the afternoon. Desperate civilians hiked through dense forests littered with land mines to escape.

Meanwhile, a Norwegian peace envoy arrived to try to pull the two sides back from the brink of full-scale civil war.

Jon Hanssen-Bauer is to meet government leaders and plans to meet the rebels over the weekend.