In the bloodiest ever attack by Sri Lankan Army that slammed the safe zone from Saturday night to Sunday morning with a barrage of shelling using all kinds of heavy weapons, 3200 civilians were killed, it is now confirmed by Tamil Rehabiliattion Organization's (TRO) field office working in the safe zone.
Thousands more were injured on the same night and expected to die due to a lack of medical facilities, medicine, and medical personal due to restrictions and embarogos imposed by the GoSL, said Laurence Christy, Head of Field Office, TRO in his statement to media. He has expressed his fear of more deaths and devastation as the shelling continues.
He urges the international community to immediately invoke the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and intervene in Sri Lanka to stop the genoicde of the Tamil civilians.
Read the full text of the media release:
10 May 2009
Sunday
Mullivaikkal East, Mullaitivu
‘Safe Zone’
ONGOING SHELLING
The International Community, the United Nations, India, and the United States are have failed to act over the last 5 months, resulting in the death of over 10,000 civilians and 20,000 injured. The international community must immediately invoke the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and intervene in Sri Lanka to stop the genoicde of the Tamil civilians.
Today, Sunday 10 May 2009, the Sri Lanka Army and Air Force began a systemactic, intense areial bombardment and shelling of the so-called ‘safe zone’ where approximately 130,000 Tamil civilians have taken refegue. This heavy shelling has continued throughout the day killing 3200 civilians and injuring thousands more.
The heavy shelling and areial bombardment, that the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) claimed to have ended over two weeks ago has continued today resulted in over 3200 civilians killed and thousands more injured and expected to die due to a lack of medical facilities, medicine, and medical personal due to restrictions and embarogos imposed by the GoSL.
The death toll is very likely to be many times higher than currently quoted in the media, as the current number of dead is based only or assessments done at the temporary hospital and TRO staff in the field as shells were falling. Thousands more of the dead and dying are laying where they fell or have been buried in the sandy soil by family and friends to prevent the spread of disease.
TRO volunteers and medical staff are unable to manage with the vast numbers of dead and injured and the bodies are pilling up.
We urgently requests the international community to provide food and medicine and send a monitoring team to bear withness to the massacre that is occurring.
The world must intervene to stop the genocide.
Laurence Christy
Head of Field Office
‘Safe zone’ / ‘no fire zone’
Mullivaikal, Mullaitivu