The New York Times

COLOMBO— Sri Lanka’s government ignored mounting calls by international relief organizations on Friday for greater access to the country’s swelling refugee camps, as the military continued to weed out suspected former Tamil Tiger rebels hiding among civilians.

COLOMBO— President Mahinda Rajapaksa called for national unity Tuesday as he declared victory in the country’s 26-year war against the Tamil Tiger rebels, but provided few details about how he planned to heal the wounds of a conflict that has left more than a generation of ethnic Tamil marginalized.

HONG KONG — At least 50 people were killed Wednesday when a primary school in Sri Lanka that had been converted into a field hospital was shelled for the second day, news agencies reported. Dr. Thurairaja Varatharajah, the top government health official in the war zone, told The Associated Press that the attack killed at least 50 people, including patients and relatives, and wounded about 60 others. He said heavy shelling continued throughout the day.

HONG KONG — With the United Nations saying a “bloodbath” is taking place in Sri Lanka, and with the government and Tamil rebels trading accusations over the deaths of hundreds of civilians from artillery attacks, a leading group of aid agencies said Monday that both sides had shown a “wanton disregard for human life” and pressed Japan to intervene in the growing crisis.

The already severe humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka is on the brink of catastrophe. It will take the quick arrival of humanitarian relief and high-level international political muscle to bring the nightmarish situation to an end and prevent a slaughter.

An estimated 150,000 civilians are now trapped in a tiny pocket of land between Sri Lankan military forces, whose artillery shells regularly fall among them, and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who shoot at them if they try to escape. Food, clean water and medical assistance are all increasingly scarce.