Sri Lanka: 'The intolerable noise of shells'

Heavy fighting is continuing around the key rebel-held town of Kilinochchi in northern Sri Lanka, according to the army.

Last month, the government told foreign aid agencies to leave areas held by the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) because it could not guarantee the security of aid workers.

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In the town, there are less people now. Most of the shops are closed, shop owners are moving their goods to other areas.

The shelling started around two weeks ago. We underwent several aerial attacks. Slowly, people took their belongings, household items - including the roofs of houses - and moved about 10km away from the town.

They are in the places between Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu [another rebel-held town to the east]. But in the villages around, there are still people. They just wait.

'Heavy shelling'

They are scared about the situation. With heavy shelling and aerial attacks they will move from this area and they will go far. Most of these people have been displaced several times from areas like Mannar and Vavuniya. As the military forces advance, they displace and scatter.

Most of the people I can tell, hundreds, are psychologically affected. The degree of mental illness is varied because everyone has the fear of the war and everyone is taking risks.

Shelling is here and there, aerial attacks are here and there. Just one aerial attack can hit many civilians' houses. One week ago, there was an aerial attack and one teacher and one student died and several others were injured. I attended to them and I had to deal with their relations.

If a family member is killed that leaves sorrow but people have to manage. They don't really have any choices. This is a long-term war. They believe that if they are unfortunate, they will die and if they are fortunate people they will escape death. Today [Wednesday 15 October] there were no civilian casualties in Kilinochchi. Last week the war was quite silent but before that many civilians were killed.