An expected and dreaded “bloodbath”

Tens of thousands of civilians are fleeing the combat zones, as the Sri Lankan National Army launched its final assault on the Tamil Tigers, entrenched in the northeast of the island. And each denounces the attitude of the other towards civilians. The government accuses the rebels of using them as human shields. The rebels in turn accuse the army of carrying out massacres.

Besieged, the rebels only hold a very small territory of 15 square km. Just two years ago, they occupied 18,000 square kilometers in the north and east of this country of 20 million people.

The civilians, in sandwiches, are in spite of themselves in the front line. The United Nations and NGOs fear that the military offensive will turn into a “bloodbath”. “We are extremely worried,” says the head of operations of the International Committee of the Red Cross ( ICRC), Peter Kraehenbuehl. Tens of thousands of civilians are trapped in an increasingly small area. The situation is not far from becoming catastrophic. ” The Sri Lankan government had set an ultimatum for Tuesday noon for the leader of the Tigers to surrender. In vain. The bloodbath is indeed becoming an increasingly probable outcome …

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