Fifty children among wounded Sri Lankans rescued

Fifty children were among a convoy of 300 injured who were carried from a Sri Lanka war zone to hospital yesterday. The casualties were rescued by the United Nations after they had been hurt in fighting between Tamil Tiger rebels and the Sri Lankan army.

Sri Lankan troops cornered the Tigers in a shrinking piece of jungle and are fighting to finish one of Asia's longest-running wars. But about 250,000 people are still trapped in a small pocket of Tamil territory about a third the size of London, say aid agencies. “The convoy just crossed the frontline with hundreds of the civilians wounded by the fighting, including 50 critically wounded children, who are being moved to a ministry of health hospital," UN spokesman Gordon Weiss told Reuters. Tamil groups have denied reports that the rebels at first tried to stop the convoy from leaving. Mr Weiss disagreed with the Sri Lankan government view that there was no humanitarian crisis in the north. He said: "our staff witnessed the deaths and injuries of dozens of people over the weekend.” And Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have both said they fear for those caught up in the fighting.

The Tigers, called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been fighting for a separate homeland in northern Sri Lanka since 1983. They have now been routed from all major towns after heavy battles in recent months and are now cornered into this small patch of jungle villages in the north east. The Sri Lankan army says it is continuing its advance into rebel-held territory in the north-west. It says on Wednesday it captured a key crossroads several rebel camps — including a bunker complex with a luxury room and conference hall.

Hundreds have been killed or wounded in the last week. Many were stranded without proper treatment in badly equipped hospitals until the convoy carried them to a government hospital in Vavuniya, outside the war zone. Medical aid workers have said hospitals were running low on drugs, while ambulances were having trouble moving across the front lines to evacuate the wounded.

Sri Lankan civic groups said they were "gravely concerned" about mounting casualties as fighting intensifies over the coming days and the civilians get trapped into smaller spaces.

Of the 2.5 million people living in the areas directly affected by the fighting, about one million are children. SOS Children has five communities in Sri Lanka including one in Anuradhapura in the fighting affected north. The organisation’s projects there include a medical centre, social centre and help for street children. Read more

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children