COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka's military captured two camps used by the Tamil Tigers' suicide squad, killing 12 rebels and seizing a large number of weapons, officials said Sunday amid mounting concern for civilians trapped in the war zone.
Hospital staff help an injured ethnic Tamil who was reportedly evacuated from the war zone and brought to a hospital in Vavuniya , about 210 kilometers (131 miles) north east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2009.
According to the Red Cross, some 250,000 noncombatants are trapped in the 115-square mile (300-square kilometer) area near Mullaittivu where advancing government troops have boxed in the separatist Tamil rebels. The government puts the number at about 120,000.
"The humanitarian situation is precarious if not critical," Red Cross spokeswoman Sarasi Wijeratne told The Associated Press. "We have appealed to both parties to allow safe passage for the sick and wounded so that they can get medical treatment," she said.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government, which accuses the Tamil Tigers of keeping civilians in the war zone to use as human shields, had given the insurgents Friday and Saturday to let the noncombatants leave the area.
By the time the deadline expired, only 236 civilians had emerged from the battleground to cross the front line into the government-held areas, according to the Media Center for National Security.
The Tigers deny holding civilians and claim the military offensive is preventing them from fleeing. Although the 48-hour period did not amount to a cease-fire, the government was expected to step up its offensive starting Sunday.
Wijeratne also said the Red Cross has no information about any civilians fleeing, adding that the last medical evacuation it conducted was on Thursday.
"What we are concerned about is the safety of the people there. That's why we are asking both parties to ensure there is safe passage," she said.
On Saturday, ground troops fought their way into the jungles to uncover two camps of the Black Tigers, the suicide bombing squad of the Tamil Tigers, north of Mullaittivu, said an official of the media center who cannot be identified under briefing rules.
He said one camp comprised a two-story underground apartment with luxurious bedrooms, bathroom, an electricity generator and a refrigerator. In the other camp, the troops found a large number of weapons including mortar launchers, rifles, rocket propelled grenades, light machine guns, grenades, mines, bombs, detonators, gas masks and Tamil Tiger uniforms.
The bodies of 12 rebels were also recovered, apparently killed by the troops in the fighting, said military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara.
"It is a big success because that means the Tigers are leaving their camps and fleeing," he told the AP.
The claim could not be independently verified because journalists have been barred by the government from going into the conflict zone. The Tigers also did not immediately issue any statement on the current battle situation.
The military believes it is now close to destroying the Tigers, who have been fighting since 1983 for a separate homeland for ethnic minority Tamils in the north and the east.
There are no accurate figures for the casualties in the recent fighting around Mullaittivu. The government denies reports that more than 300 civilians have been killed.
More than 70,000 people have been killed in the civil war, which grew out of complaints by Tamils, who have suffered decades of marginalization under successive governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority.
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