By C. Bryson Hull and Ranga Sirilal
Colombo - Thousands of Sri Lankans under fire waded across a lagoon to escape the island's war zone, where the military has surrounded Tamil Tiger rebels for the final battle in a quarter-century conflict.
The military said aerial surveillance footage confirmed the exodus of around 5 000 people from a tiny, sandy coastal strip, where the United States and others say the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are holding thousands by force.
Sri Lanka and the LTTE on Thursday brushed off demands from the United Nations Security Council and US President Barack Obama to take steps to protect the civilians at grave risk stuck between two foes determined to fight to the end of a war that began in 1983.
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The call appeared to have come too late to stop an exodus the military has been counting on to remove the only protection the LTTE has from a military onslaught of overwhelming force. "Already, 2 000 civilians have crossed the lagoon. There is a large number of people crossing, and the (rebels) fired at them. Four people were killed, 14 were wounded," said military spokesperson Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara.
The United Nations' acting representative for Sri Lanka, Amin Awad, told Reuters that local sources in the combat zone confirmed up to 6 000 were in the water or safely across.
"They are trying to escape, but the LTTE is firing at them, overhead and into them. The army and the navy claimed to have rescued some, and we are concerned about those remaining," said Awad, who is also head of the UN refugee agency UNHCR.
Helicopters airlifted 12 wounded civilians to a hospital south of the war zone, air force spokesperson Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said.
Getting a clear picture of the battlefield is nearly impossible, since most outsiders are barred from it and both sides have repeatedly distorted accounts of events there to suit their version of the story. - Reuters
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