Tigers fight on as officials surrender

TWO Tamil Tiger officials surrendered to the Sri Lankan army yesterday, and refugees joined a stream of more than 80,000 people the government says have fled a war zone that appeared to shrink by the hour.

The sandy beaches north of the tiny combat zone — which now measures just 8km long — were filled with people carrying their belongings on their backs or in bundles on their heads. Mothers held infants and others carried sick relatives as they reached government territory in boats escorted by the navy.

In a sign that the rebel leadership has begun to feel the military pressure, the rebels’ former media spokesman Velayutham Dayanithi, whose nom de guerre is Daya Master, and an interpreter for the group’s political wing, known only as George, turned themselves over to government forces. The two played prominent roles in talking to the media and visiting foreign diplomats in a now defunct peace process.

The former spokesman is the most senior rebel official to surrender so far, military spokesman Brig Udaya Nanayakkara said. The remaining rebels were still resisting the army’s advance.

There were casualties among government troops, but Nanayakkara did not provide details.

The UN and humanitarian groups called for an immediate stop to the fighting, so more civilians could escape.

The government has ignored calls to stop the fighting, saying for weeks it was on the verge of crushing the rebels as troops ousted them from former strongholds and hemmed them into a tiny strip of coastal land.

The government had previously deemed that area a “no-fire” zone to protect civilians. But troops broke through the embankment, entered the zone and captured part of it during fighting on Monday and Tuesday. At least 43 rebels were killed, Nanayakkara said.

The UN estimates more than 4,500 civilians have been killed in three months.

On Tuesday, the rebels accused the government of killing 1,000 civilians in their latest offensive — a charge the military denies.

Dr Thangamuttu Sathyamurthi, one of the few doctors working in the war zone, said the bodies of 80 civilians were brought to two makeshift hospitals after Monday’s raid but said more people would have died and been buried on the spot.

Fighting continued yesterday and shells fell near a Roman Catholic church wounding a priest and killing three civilians who had pitched their tents in the church compound, Sathyamurthi said.