Thousands trapped in Sri Lanka’s northern conflict zone

THE United Nations said yesterday that “many” civilians have been killed in recent fighting in Sri Lanka’s civil war and called the situation for thousands of displaced people trapped in the northern conflict zone a crisis.

In recent weeks, government troops pushed the Tamil Tigers out of the de facto state they ran in the north, forced the rebels into a broad retreat and boxed them into a small patch of jungle along with hundreds of thousands of civilians.

The military captured the rebels’ final stronghold of Mullaittivu on Sunday and fought heavy battles with the separatists in the jungles throughout yesterday.