Civilians flee as rivals say over 110 killed in Sri Lanka fighting.

Some 3,000 civilians are fleeing as heavy artillery duels in Sri Lanka's restive northeast killed more than 110 people, including 41 civilians, according to rebels and security forces.

The two sides said sporadic mortar bomb attacks and artillery fire continued throughout Sunday along the Trincomalee and Batticaloa district borders.

The International Red Cross said more than 3,300 people were displaced Sunday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in a statement asked both the military and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to comply with international humanitarian law.

The ICRC appeal came as the LTTE said 41 civilians in areas held by them had been killed in two days of shelling by troops. The military denies attacking civilians and in turn accuses the rebels of using human shields.

"The ICRC urges the parties to respect the freedom of movement of internally displaced people," the Geneva-based organisation said amid fears that civilians were trapped by heavy fighting.

The LTTE said the military launched a fresh offensive against them at Vakarai sparking renewed fighting.

"The number of civilians killed in yesterday's shelling also rose to 22, taking the total civilian death toll over the two days to 41," the LTTE said in a statement.

The defence ministry said the guerrillas initiated the offensive and that the military had counter-attacked and inflicted heavy losses on the rebels.

The military said 12 soldiers were killed on Sunday. But the Tamil Tigers had placed military losses on Saturday alone at 30. The military placed rebel losses at 40 killed while the rebels said they lost three fighters.

AFP

Stop shelling civilians, UN tells Sri Lanka army, rebels.

12 Dec 2006 07:35:02 GMT

Deadly artillery shelling of civilians by both Sri Lanka's military and the Tamil Tiger rebels is violating human rights, a deeply concerned United Nations said on Tuesday, appealing to both sides to stop.

More than 1,200 civilians have been killed so far this year in the crossfire of renewed civil war between the state ane the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), according to truce monitors, and thousands are fleeing fighting in the east.

The Tigers say dozens of civilians have been killed by army artillery fire in and around the rebel-held town of Vakarai in the eastern district of Batticaloa since Saturday, while the army accuses their foes of using them as human shields.

Around 30,000-35,000 displaced minority Tamils are living in camps in Vakarai, while more than 3,000 majority Sinhalese in government-held territory in neighbouring Trincomalee district have fled rebel artillery fire.

"All fundamental rights are currently being breached in areas like Vakarai and villages in Trincomalee district," Amin Awad, Acting UN Resident Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator said in a statement.

"It is imperative that direct shelling where civilians reside stops and the civilian population must be granted full and unhindered freedom of movement, away from military operations," he added.

Thousands of civilians have sought refuge in Buddhist temples and schools in the government-held town Kantale in the far northeast, while tens of thousands more live in constant fear in the northern army-held Jaffna peninsula, which is cut off from the rest of the island by rebel lines.

The military said they had refrained on Tuesday from retaliating against rebel shells from Vakarai because they had been fired from civilian areas.

"Today we couldn't retaliate because we got it confirmed that they fired from near a hospital (in Vakarai)," said military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe.

He said civilians who had fled from rebel-held areas said they had been forcibly taken to areas where the Tiger artillery guns were positioned, something the rebels deny.

Reuters.