'Bloodbath' in northern Sri Lanka, says UN

I / Colombo May 11, 2009, 13:01 IST

The United Nations today termed the death of hundreds of Tamil civilians in no-fire zone in the northern Sri Lanka in a weekend attack as a "bloodbath".  

The artillery attack killed over 300 civilians and wounded thousands, according to a government health official in the war zone, where the UN estimates more than 50,000 people are trapped.  

"More than 100 children were killed in the attack," UN spokesman in Sri Lanka Gordon Weiss said. It shows that the bloodbath, which the international community had feared has become a reality, he added.  

A pro-LTTE website Tamilnet blamed the government for the attack saying "over 2,000 civilians were killed" in the attack, while the military said that the trapped Tamil Tigers had shelled their own territory to gain international sympathy and force a ceasefire.  

"The UN has consistently warned against the bloodbath scenario as we've watched the steady increase in civilian deaths over the last few months," Weiss said.