Civilian death toll

Tamil Tigers claimed more than 50 civilians were killed and 200 wounded in their territory during a major Sri Lankan army offensive on Aug.9. The military accused the Tigers of moving heavy guns to populated areas, and said any deaths were the rebels' fault. Aid groups said both sides had ignored their appeals to pull wounded civilians out of the battle zone, and accused the government of an informal aid embargo. On Aug. 13, at least 15 people died in fighting around the St. Philip Neri Church in Allaiiddy, a predominantly Tamil village. On Aug. 14, violence left at least 50 people dead, most of them schoolgirls killed in what Tamil Tigers claim was an air raid on a school and what the government insists was a rebel base. The Red Cross report thousands of Tamils are displaced behind rebel lines after days under shellfire. Around 50,000 people are in camps in government territory. Government and rebel estimates of the death toll in the fighting since July vary wildly, but aid workers say the human cost has been high, and it will become much worse if civil war escalates.