The Tamil Tigers today denied gunning down civilians streaming out of Sri Lanka's war zone, and the Red Cross said 16 patients had been killed in shelling.
Tens of thousands of civilians are trapped in a 175-square-km area held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), surrounded by a military intent on crushing the separatist rebels and finishing a civil war that started in 1983.
Another 2,260 streamed out of the tiny war zone yesterday, keeping up the rapid pace of exodus that started last week, the military said.
Yesterday, the military accused the LTTE of killing 19 civilians and wounding 69 more trying to flee. Sri Lanka's government, aid agencies and rights groups say the LTTE has forced Tamils to stay in the war zone, which the rebels deny.
Pro-rebel web site www.TamilNet.com said today the rebels blamed Sri Lankan troops for the shooting. The web site quoted C. Ilamparithy, whom it identified as LTTE political chief for the area in question, Puthukudiyiruppu.
"Sri Lankan military machinery, which has relentlessly killed and maimed thousands of civilians during the past four weeks, is now engaged in a propaganda drive to divert the mounting pressure on the Colombo government," TamilNet quoted him as saying.
It is impossible to verify either side's claims, since the war zone is off-limits to unaccompanied journalists and both sides have engaged in a relentless propaganda duel for years.
Reuters