LTTE spin doctors in a last ditch bid to force international intervention yesterday claimed that over 3,200 civilians had been killed in an artillery barrage directed at no fire zone on the Mullaitivu coast over the weekend and on Monday.

The Defence Ministry said that this accusation was made to cover up death and injuries to several hundred civilians in the no fire zone at the hands of the LTTE. The ministry said that the LTTE had fired mortars and small arms at about 1,000 civilians trying to escape over the weekend killing and wounding about 250 men, women and children.

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told The Island that the LTTE had directed mortar fire after sentries failed to prevent people escaping towards the army-held area. About 750 had managed to reach army units operating in the area.

The Defence Secretary said that the LTTE would say anything now to win the attention of the international community. International news agencies quoted reports posted on the pro-LTTE Tamilnet on slaughter of men, women and children by the army. The LTTE urged the international community to force an immediate halt to the Sri Lankan offensive.

This was a sure sign of their failure on the battlefield, he said adding the 58 and 53

Divisions were making progress, the Defence Secretary said. Had they managed to stall the army, they wouldn’t have bothered with the international community, he said.

The army said that ground troops had caused immense damage to the LTTE over the past several days, he said. Responding to our queries, he said that the Tigers had retreated leaving behind sizeable quantities of armaments including some of their weapons.

The army conducting clearing operations in the newly liberated Karayanmullivaikkal, north of Mullaitivu on Sunday (May 10) had found two anti-aircraft guns mounted on cabs. The army also recovered a 30 mm weapon, 307 rounds of 30 mm ammunition, one multi purpose machine gun tripod, 14 T-56 assault rifles, three communication sets, three suicide jackets and a range of other items.

The Defence Secretary said that the LTTE wouldn’t have abandoned its anti-aircraft had it half a chance of meeting the army’s challenge on its own. "They are outnumbered at their last stronghold," he said.