War drives out one-third of Jaffna’s population

At Chavakachcheri, a small town 15 km south, too there has been an exodus. “But we are worried about the people who remain there,” a relief worker said. The Chavakachcheri area has seen some of the fiercest fighting. Even today, the military reported artillery exchanges with the Tamil Tigers there. The rebels launched “sporadic” artillery and mortar attacks on Army defences. The troops retaliated with heavy artillery “against all likely” LTTE artillery and mortar positions, the Army said today.

Closer to Jaffna town, the troops engaged a truckload of Tamil Tigers moving towards Navatkuli bridge with machine-gun fire. The Army said six militants were killed. The vital bridge, which the Tigers have tried to take earlier during the current fighting, lies on the A9 road between Chavakachcheri and Jaffna town.

At least from Jaffna town, the exodus has been fairly orderly, according to reports. Though hundreds have taken to Rameswaram-bound boats, tens of thousands of refugees have chosen to stay in welfare centres and thehomes of friends and relatives in areas of the peninsula where the fighting has not reached yet.

Reports suggest that Jaffna is calm, though artillery firing is sometimes heard at night and a shell landed in the middle of the town a few days back. A curfew has been clamped in the town. On most days, it is relaxed only for a three-hour period in the morning.

Government sources and relief agencies confirm there are no food shortages in Jaffna right now, but there are fears that with the battle spreading, getting the supplies to the people might be a problem. The ship service between Trincomalee and Kankesanthurai (KKS) harbour in north Jaffna peninsula has been severely disrupted.

A ship operating under the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) set sail on Wednesday from Trincomalee after waiting for days for the greensignal from both the military and the LTTE. It was expected to dock at Point Pedro, instead of Kankesanthurai, its usual port of call. But today theship was headed back, apparently because the two sides could not agree on which port it should dock.

And the other ship, City of Trinco, on the Trincomalee-Jaffna peninsula run too was reportedly stopped from sailing out because of security reasons.

The cancellation of the ferry servies has come amid LTTE claims that they have been shelling the Palaly military base in which Kankesanthurai lies. The Army has, however, said the base is not under threat.

With the land route virtually closed, keeping the Trincomalee-Jaffna weekly ferry running is crucial. Apart from foodstocks, the ferry transportsthe seriously ill from Jaffna Hospital to Colombo.

Since March-end, 23 war-wounded civilians have been admitted to Jaffna Hospital, and another 50 to a smaller hospital in Point Pedro, sources said.But the figures do not give a clear estimate of the civilian casualties in the war. Some of the wounded might be going to smaller dispensaries.

Shelling in the Kahady town recently killed 15 people at an old people’s home and both sides blamed each other. Organisations like the ICRC and Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) have reminded both sides to take steps to prevent civilian casualties. And the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogato, has expressed concern over the developing refugeecrises.

At present, Jaffna Hospital has medicine stocks for 500 war wounded. The Hospital at Point Pedro in the north of the peninsula could handle another 150. But medical workers are worried that if the fighting escalates, restocking the hospital stores might become difficult.