10 May,2009 06:28 PM IST | | Agencies
Though the Sri Lankan Army has claimed that it will look after the safety of civilians, reports suggest that indiscriminate firing has resulted in the death of around 2,000 civilians in just one night, from Saturday's dusk to Sunday's dawn.
According to medical sources in Vanni, the 2,000 civilians include a large number of women and children. It is also claimed that the Sri Lankan army has resorted to weapons like internationally banned cluster shells.
257 dead bodies, including those of 67 children, have been brought to the hospital. 112 of the injured brought to the hospital were children. The makeshift hospital, which is now running from a junior school in Mullivaikaal, is unable to cope with the situation.
According to a human rights activist in Colombo, this is the first time after the UN was established that a government has killed so many people in so short a duration. It is alleged that India is pressurising Sri Lanka to finish the war before a new government takes over in India.
