The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Tuesday said that the escalation of fighting in the northern region has forced at least 22,000 people to flee their homes from the. The ICRC claimed that the situation in Omanthai is still tense.

It said hostilities between the Sri Lankan Security Forces and the LTTE were concentrated over the past month in the Mannar and Jaffna districts in the north of the country. The fighting was restricted to the uninhabited area of Muhamalai, south of the Jaffna peninsula, and the sparsely populated area of Madhu, to the northwest of Vavuniya, the ICRC said.

“As a result, 22,000 persons have been forced to flee their homes since the beginning of September according to the local authorities who, together with humanitarian organizations, are assisting the displaced,” it said.

The ICRC also said there was fighting in the area surrounding the Omanthai entry/exit point, sandwiched between areas controlled by the government and the LTTE.

“The situation in the area remains tense,” said Toon Vandenhove, head of the ICRC delegation in Colombo.

“The ICRC hopes the entry/exit point can remain open because it's an invaluable conduit for the transport of commercial items and allows humanitarian action to be taken to meet the needs of people on both sides, such as reuniting families and providing access to health care,” he added.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed