Sri Lanka: Massacre in Muthurajawela The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) on Monday (20 June) claimed that security forces killed 25 members of the so-called "Tamil Tigers" in the Muthurajawela area of the northeast Sri Lankan district of Vavuniya. The claim is the latest in a series of alleged massacre of civilians by the security forces. The SL Army alleged that the 25 were shot dead in a raid on an arms cache. It further claimed that four security personnel were injured during a gun battle with the rebels. However, the United Nations said it was still investigating the allegations and had not yet received details of what happened in Muthurajawela. The allegations comes one day after the UNSG received allegations of similar incidents in the same area. In a letter to the UNSG on Friday, the United Nations' human rights official accused the Sri Lankan army of killing "hundreds" of civilians, including scores of children and dozens of hospital patients, since the start of the month. He said the killing of patients and children were violations of international humanitarian law, saying, "This appears to be one of the worst incidents of violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights violations in the past decades." The letter, signed by UN Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic, says that information received by his office "indicates that from mid-June to mid-July, the Sri Lankan security forces have continued to mount major offensive operations in the Kilinochchi district that resulted in hundreds of civilians killed, including scores of children and dozens of hospital patients." Simonovic also accused the rebels of firing rocket-propelled grenades at civilians trying to flee and said rebel shelling had resulted in more deaths. The Sri Lankan government has been conducting a military offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels in the northeast. Neville Sivananthan, the U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sri Lanka, said in a statement that since January, between 4,000 and 6,000 people have been displaced from Muthurajawela as a result of attacks by the Tamil Tigers. He said his office had not received any complaints from the people living in the town. The U.N. has also said that the ongoing military campaign had resulted in the displacement of 500,000 people in the previous month. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's military has insisted that its troops "are not firing indiscriminately against civilians but are firing on specific targets." The military spokesman, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, said on Monday (20 June) that the situation was "under control" and that the rebels were fleeing Muthurajawela. He added that the rebels had been forced out of the village as the military surrounded the area to prevent them from attacking the military. He said that when the military was deployed in Muthurajawela, the rebels had opened fire on them from a distance. "Our soldiers returned fire and repulsed the attack," he said. The government says the rebels had been using Muthurajawela as a safe haven to launch attacks and regroup. On Monday, the BBC said that Sri Lankan authorities had banned reporters from entering Muthurajawela. Fighting resumed last month following a 10-month lull in violence between the government forces and the rebels. Both government and rebel forces have launched attacks against each other in the eastern half of the island in the past two weeks. At least 30,000 people have died since the conflict between the government and the Tamil Tigers broke out in 1983. About 60,000 people, mainly Tamils, have been killed in the military campaign to drive the rebels from power. There has been a growing call for the international community to intervene in the conflict. The U.N. says 10,000 people, mainly civilians, have been killed in the last year alone. The humanitarian situation in the country is getting desperate as many thousands of people continue to flee the violence. "On the first of November 2002, a meeting of the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 1379 (2001), demanding the military defeat of the LTTE, in accordance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law," the U.S. Secretary of State said. "The Secretary-General appointed an Independent Panel in December 2002, to monitor developments and make recommendations to the Security Council," he added. The UN Panel has consistently concluded that peace in Sri Lanka is unlikely in the foreseeable future as long as the Tamil Tigers are in existence. "The Secretary-General also has called on Member States not to import goods from LTTE-controlled areas," the Secretary-General's spokesman said. "Import restrictions have contributed to a significant weakening of the LTTE's capacity." The UN Panel has stressed that an arms embargo should also be maintained. "The ongoing military campaign in Sri Lanka is targeting legitimate military and civilian targets. I have seen with my own eyes that there are no Tamil Tiger targets in this area," Muthu Sivaleny, a Sri Lankan journalist, told VOA. Sivaleny was referring to the town of Puthukkudiyiruppu, located southwest of Muthurajawela and less than two miles away from the government-controlled airport. "There were a few civilians in a building near a hospital. Soldiers tried to destroy a house nearby, but had to pull back," he said. "I saw three dead bodies near the building, a few feet away from some soldiers." Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that although military commanders promised a cessation of hostilities in the area of conflict, "violence has increased rather than decreased." "According to Sri Lankan army sources, there have been more than 12 military air strikes since the 26th of April 2004," J.M. Rajendra, HRW's Asian director said. "These are strikes that involve bombs or missiles, rather than helicopters." "The LTTE has been using civilians as shields to create a political situation. But when they tried to do that this time, they were unable to because of the army's attack. This is a very dangerous area for them," a U.N. official said. "The people were forced to move because of shelling, and if they go near the Tamil Tigers, the military would kill them." "All my neighbors have been relocated to the camp. I took up an offer and went there," A. Kanniah, a Tamil refugee in a Tamil Tigers-controlled area, told VOA by telephone. "The shells came in by day and by night, but we continued with our daily routine. The Tigers attacked the army and civilians were killed as well," he said. Meanwhile, the local people living in the rebel-controlled areas in the country's northwest are also bracing themselves for attacks by the government troops. "The shelling and shelling will keep on until the LTTE's soldiers withdraw," said a villager in Kilinochchi, a rebel-controlled area in the country's north. There have been repeated protests against the continued military offensive in Kilinochchi and other rebel-controlled areas. The Tamil Tiger rebels, who had established de facto control over large areas of the country's northeast, have been fighting against the government forces since 1983 for a separate homeland. The Tamil Tigers have launched several attacks against the military in recent months.