Aid workers demand protection in Lanka

Sri Lankan villagers walk through a refugee camp in Kantalai on the outskirts of the northeastern town of Trincomalee yesterday. Sri Lankan troops tried to seize control of a disputed waterway after rejecting a rebel deal as shocked French aid workers struggled to recover the bodies of 15 colleagues killed in the area. PHOTO: AFP

Their steely resolve gives hope to nearly 30,000 people displaced by heavy fighting between Tiger rebels and government forces, but news that 15 of their colleagues were killed has outraged them to a point that they are now demanding protection.

"This is plainly a crime, not only to us but to those we serve," said Guy Hovey, head of delegation for the US-based United Methodist Committee on Relief, which has been working to evacuate people since the fresh conflict began.

The killings of 15 employees of French agency Action Against Hunger (ACF) is an atrocity that could complicate efforts to bring aid to some 5,000 people trapped in the town of Muttur.

More than 425 people have been killed in the latest round of fighting according to an official count.

"We're non-combatants and we can't operate if we are attacked. We would like some form of security guarantee or safe passage," from both sides, Hovey told AFP as his staff tended to scores of children and women under a makeshift tent in Kallar, 20km south of Muttur.

"We have a humanitarian duty to remain and help the people. We will remain until we are effective," he said, but stressed that if there was another security breakdown "we may pull out."

Hovey's group of 20 volunteers are trying to work on bringing food and aid to some 5,000 people believed still remaining in Muttur, which came under attack from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) trying to cut off a military supply routes. The fighting erupted on July 26 when warplanes bombed suspected Tiger positions in a bid to force the rebels to lift their blockade of an irrigation canal that was denying water to some 15,000 farming families downstream.

Heavy shelling that followed a week later devastated the mainly Muslim town and forced thousands to flee. The area is now cut off, telephone services and power are down even as reports say bodies still lie uncollected days after it was bombarded.