Trapped in Sri Lanka's civil war crossfire
Updated on 29 January 2009
Almost 250,000 civilians remain caught in the intense fighting between Sri Lankan forces and rebel Tamil Tigers, with nowhere left to run.
Two hundred critically wounded civilians, including 50 children, have finally been allowed out of the heart of the battle zone in a convoy jointly organised by the UN and the Red Cross.
But almost a quarter of a million people remain stranded, and they're begging the warring sides to let them leave.
Violence between the Buddhist Sinhalese and the mainly Hindu Tamil minority first erupted in 1983. Since then, some 70,000 people have been killed in fighting between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels who want an independent state in the north and east of the island where they've controlled much of the land.
Since 2007 the government has recaptured large swathes of territory and has now pushed the Tamil Tigers into a handful of villages around Mullattivu.
Western journalists aren't allowed access to the war torn region. But both sides have now been accused of killing and wounding civilians in violation of the laws of war.
A warning this report contains distressing images of the violence.
Interview: Yolanda Foster
Alex Thomson interviews Yolanda Foster, an expert on Sri Lanka at Amnesty International. 29 Jan 2009.