Monitors put Sri Lanka's civilian death toll at 200

At least 200 civilians have been killed in two months of fighting between Sri Lankan soldiers and separatist Tamil rebels in the country’s north and east and both sides are to blame, European ceasefire monitors said today.

“Since large-scale hostilities broke out in late July, over 200 civilians have been killed and several thousands are internally displaced, creating a serious humanitarian crisis,” the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission said in a report sent to the government and Tamil Tiger leaders.