Doctor says Sri Lanka artillery killed 378

COLOMBO – An all-night artillery barrage in Sri Lanka’s war zone killed at least 378 civilians and forced thousands to flee to makeshift shelters along the beach, a government doctor said yesterday.

At least 1 100 people were wounded in what the physician said was the bloodiest day he had seen in months of fighting between the army and Tamil Tiger rebels.Dr V Shanmugarajah said many more were likely killed in the barrage, but they were buried where they fell instead of being taken to the makeshift hospital where he works in the war zone. He described the situation at the understaffed hospital as ‘overwhelming.’’Nothing is within our control,’ he said. Most doctors and nurses have long since fled, he said, and even volunteers to dig graves were in short supply.The rebel-linked TamilNet Web site said 2 000 civilians were feared dead and blamed the attack on Sri Lankan forces. The Sri Lankan military denied firing the artillery and said the rebels appeared to be firing mortar shells from one corner of the tiny area still under their control into another section densely populated with civilians.The rebels are ‘trying to use these people as their last weapon to show the world that the army is firing indiscriminately and stop this offensive,’ military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.Reports of the fighting are difficult to verify because the government bars journalists and aid workers from the war zone. The rebel force, which has been fighting for 25 years for a homeland for minority Tamils, is cornered on a small sliver of territory on the island’s northeastern coast.The government vowed two weeks ago to cease firing heavy weapons to avoid civilian casualties. However, medical officials in the area have reported that air strikes and artillery attacks have continued unabated, despite the presence of an estimated 50 000 ethnic Tamil civilians in the conflict zone. – Nampa-AP