Civilians became victims of both sides

The International Crisis Group blames most of the deaths on the government side. Its figure is significantly higher than earlier estimates by the United Nations and its condemnation of the government is possibly the strongest yet from an international source.

War crimes from both sides

Much of what happened in Sri Lanka’s final war zone, as the Tamil Tigers retreated from the army taking hundreds of thousands of civilians with them, remains opaque to the outside world.

Apart from the Red Cross, international humanitarian groups were excluded from the area, as were independent journalists.

30000 dead

But the International Crisis Group says that, from eyewitness evidence, it believes at least 30,000 civilians were killed or unaccounted for and countless others wounded and deprived of food and medicine.

at least 30,000 civilians were killed or missing and countless others wounded and deprived of food and medicine - ICG

It says there should be an independent international inquiry into possible war crimes by both sides. But it comes down most heavily on the government, saying there’s evidence that it intentionally shelled civilians, hospitals and humanitarian operations.

The authorities here have, however, repeatedly denied inflicting civilian casualties.

Gotabhaya Rajapaksa

The defence secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, who masterminded the war effort, has written in a Sunday newspaper that, when confronted with civilian areas, the military banned air bombing, artillery and mortar fire.

	Defence Secretary

He said rescuing trapped civilians had remained a key priority. The government has just set up an eight-member commission which it says will look at the lessons of the war and promote reconciliation. But the International Crisis Group says it doesn’t think any domestic investigation can be impartial.

It calls for a UN-mandated inquiry, while accusing the same world body of having been “ineffectual” in its attempts to secure a ceasefire at the time.