Sri Lanka attacks ‘bloodbath’ the UN had feared

THE United Nations yesterday said attacks in Sri Lanka that killed hundreds were the bloodbath it had long feared, while the Tamil Tigers and government traded blame ahead of UN Security Council talks about the war.

In the latest and largest reported assault on civilians trapped in the war zone, hundreds of people were reported killed on Sunday and yesterday in artillery barrages that struck the less than 5sq km (2sq mile) strip of territory the rebels control.

The stakes could not be higher for either Sri Lanka, which does not want its impending conventional victory in the 25-year-war snatched away, or the Tigers, who have vowed “no surrender” despite facing overwhelming numbers, force and odds.