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PRESS RELEASE
LTTE Headquarters LTTE URGES UNHCR AND ICRCTO ARRANGE TEMPORARY TRUCE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has urged the resident representatives of the UNHCR and the ICRC to help to arrange a temporary cessation of armed hostilities between Sri Lankan armed forces and the LTTE combat formations in the Thenmarachchi division of the Jaffna peninsula to facilitate the evacuation of Tamil civilians stranded in the fighting zone. The LTTE has made this appeal to these non-governmental humanitarian organisations following large scale civilian casualties sustained in the fighting zones of Thenmarachchi as a consequence of indiscriminate barrage of artillery shelling, multi-barrel rocket fire and heavy aerial bombardment by Israeli made Kifir combat aircrafts. Already a large section of the stranded population has moved to safe area in Valigamam, Vadamarachchi and Vanni sector. Yet thousands are still caught up in the crossfire unable to move to areas of safety. The Sri Lankan armed forces are pounding the possible routes of evacuation to prevent civilian movement. The LTTE has also requested the ICRC and the UNHCR to visit the battle zones to take stock of the tragic and dangerous situation the civilians are exposed to.
(Released by the International Secretariat of LTTE, 211 Katherine Rd,
London E6 1BU, United Kingdom. |