Tamils Pounded by Sri Lanka, Clergyman Says

Hundreds of thousands of Tamils are fleeing the northern Sri Lankan war zone as the military bombs and shells civilian areas, a clergyman said Thursday.

The armed forces Sunday launched “Operation Leap Forward,” aimed at clearing the Jaffna peninsula of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam guerrillas who are fighting for a homeland in the north and east of the island.

Late Thursday, the rebels shot down an air force fighter plane providing cover to troops in the peninsula, killing the pilot, officials said today.

The clergyman, who asked that his name not be used, said the death toll at St. Peter’s Church near Jaffna, which was bombed Sunday, had risen to 121 and that bodies were still being pulled from the rubble.

“Some 300,000 people are on the move to the east of the Jaffna peninsula where they hope there isn’t any fighting,” he said. “I . . . saw thousands and thousands of refugees on bullock carts, tractors, motorbikes and bicycles.”

President Chandrika Kumaratunga has ordered a probe of the church bombing. The Roman Catholic Church and the International Committee of the Red Cross say the church was hit by air force bombs.

Brig. Sarath Munasinghe said the military still did not have the access to the site needed to investigate who was responsible, and added: “We don’t bomb churches.”