Sri Lanka Satellite Images Show Tamil Refugees Massing on Beach
Before and after pictures highlight precarious situation of displaced civilians
These dramatic satellite images from the US State Department show how thousands of civilian Tamil refugees began camping out on the beach in the north-eastern war zone in the space of a few weeks.
The first picture, on the left, taken in February, shows large areas of deserted coast line. The second, from this month, has a huge mass of people and what appear to be temporary shelters crammed along the length of the beach and right up to the sea.
It was these people, perhaps 100,000 in total, who began to flee the area after the Sri Lankan army breached the Tamil Tigers' high earthen defenses on Monday. It is not clear whether they were herded there by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or whether they were fleeing from the fierce fighting inland.
The first picture, on the left, taken in February, shows large areas of deserted coast line. The second, from this month, has a huge mass of people and what appear to be temporary shelters crammed along the length of the beach and right up to the sea.
It was these people, perhaps 100,000 in total, who began to flee the area after the Sri Lankan army breached the Tamil Tigers' high earthen defenses on Monday. It is not clear whether they were herded there by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or whether they were fleeing from the fierce fighting inland.
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