20/03/2012Sri Lanka's civil war was one of the most bloody internal conflicts in history. Fought between the Sri Lankan state and the separatist militia known as the "Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam" (LTTE), the internecine struggle is estimated have led to 100,000 deaths since its outbreak in 1983.
In early 2009, as the war neared its conclusion, hell on earth was very likely unleashed on civilians assembled in the confines of a so-called "no fire zone" on the north-eastern coast of Sri Lanka in a region known as the Vanni, according to human rights groups and a report produced by a United Nationspanel last year.
It is estimated that up to 40,000 civilians, predominantly from Sri Lanka's ethnic minority Tamil community were killed by "widespread shelling and the denial of humanitarian assistance", among other alleged acts of criminal, egregious cruelty committed by the Sri Lankan armed forces. The LTTE, whose leadership were mostly killed or captured by the Sri Lankan army at the end of the war, are also believed to have engaged in atrocities that would amount to serious war crimes.Read Post
