Harsh military tactics, slaughter of civilians, firing on the UN, intimidation of the press, killing journalists and a blockade on humanitarian aid – Israel’s merciless, cruel tactics are being employed by a ruthless, corrupt Sri Lankan government bent on exterminating Tamil resistance in the north of the island.
It is believed that 250,000 people have become caught up in the end-game of the island’s bitter civil war as the military continues to drive the Tamil Tigers into an ever-diminishing area of jungle following the capture of Mullaittivu, the rebels’ last major town, at the weekend. Humanitarian convoys, on which the civilians depend, have not been able to reach them for almost two weeks.
UN workers, taking shelter inside a safe area designated by the Sri Lankan government, told how they twice came under fire. About 20 people were killed and many more were wounded in the bombardments. The workers said it was unclear who had fired the shells but it is understood they came from both the government and rebel positions.
Speaking last night from, Colombo, the UN spokesman Gordon Weiss, said: “This is a serious crisis. Our staff were in the designated safe area and there was incoming fire from artillery shells. There were shells which killed and wounded dozens of people, the last of which was Monday morning when 10 people were killed and many more were wounded. They have seen this first hand.”
Mr Weiss said he was aware of an unconfirmed report from the regional director of health services that said 300 people had been killed.
The Red Cross said hundreds of Sri Lankans had died during the past two weeks, based on body counts carried out by its staff. “People are being caught in the crossfire, hospitals and ambulances have been hit by shelling, and several aid workers have been injured while evacuating the wounded,” said Jacques de Maio, head of the South Asia operations. “When the dust settles, we may see countless victims and a terrible humanitarian situation.”
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has issued a statement urging both sides, “to accord immediate and absolute priority to ensuring the protection and well-being of civilians, including humanitarian aid workers”.
The growing humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka comes as government troops continue to force back the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam fighters after a decades-long civil war. After capturing Mullaittivu on Sunday, the military is now pushing along a stretch of coastline to try and encircle the rebels, a manoeuvre they believe will be completed within weeks. Yesterday, the military, which has denied firing into the safe zone, escorted journalists into Mullaittivu, a town now largely deserted. As government forces approached, the rebels apparently ordered residents into the jungle and stripped the town of anything that might be of use.
Journalists have been blocked from entering much of the conflict zone and media organisations questioning the military’s tactics have been intimidated and even killed, meaning that the government’s efforts to crush the Tigers is a largely hidden conflict. So too, is the plight of the hundreds of thousands of civilians, trapped in an area measuring around 115 sq miles. Mr Weiss said most of the civilians, driven north and east by the Sri Lankan army, were now stranded along the A35 road that leads north- west from Mullaittivu – most with just the few possessions that they can carry. It is along the A35 that the government last week designated the “safe zone” for civilians.
The apparent mimicry may be the result of training.
Here’s an article from about a year ago which gives an overview of Israeli involvement in South Asia – over many decades: Mossad in Sri Lanka. Here’s an extract:
In Sri Lanka, Mossad trains, arms, and equips both sides — through its Cambodian Zim Shipping empire, and through its holdings in South Africa — and perpetrates false flags whenever there is talk of peace. Mossad’s goal is to maintain the lucrative arms market, plus the local drug trade that helps pay for those arms.
When the Tamils started fighting the Singhalese for independence in 1983, the Singhalese President Junius Jayawardene brought in 50 Mossad officers to train his security forces at a place called Maduru-Oya. This was not scret. It was in all the newspapers.
From that point on, Mossad armed, trained, and equipped both sides. (Since the Tamil forces are smaller than the Sri Lankan army, the zio-media calls the Tamils “terrorists.”)
In 1991 Victor Ostrovsky, author of By Way of Deception, told Indian Abroad news service that Mossad brought many Tamils to Israel for training in 1984 and 1985. “These groups kept coming and going. When I was in Mossad, it was part of our routine job to take them to training camps and make sure they got training worth what they paid for, no more and no less. The Singhalese paid in cash.”
Ostrovsky said the arrangement for training was made by the Mossad liaison in India, who lived there under a British passport.
We know from sources other than Ostrovsky that shortly after the war broke out in Sri Lanka, Mossad approached a group of officers from India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW, which is India’s equivalent to the CIA). In July 1984 this inner RAW circle arranged with Mossad to send Tamils to Israel for commando training. Mossad paid the RAW team for this by setting up accounts for them in the BCCI bank.