COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: Two crossing points between government and rebel-held territories in northern Sri Lanka will be reopened Wednesday after the Red Cross was given security assurances from both sides, an official said.
International Committee of the Red Cross staff plan to return to the Omanthai and Uyilankulam check points three days a week — Monday, Wednesday and Friday — after the rebels and government guaranteed their safety, ICRC spokesman, Davide Vignati, said.
The ICRC said last week it was withdrawing its staff from the two checkpoints due to escalating violence amid a deepening conflict between separatist Tamil Tiger rebels and the security forces.
"The ICRC had been present on a daily basis since 2002. Although its presence at the crossing points will now be reduced to only three days a week, it remains ready to ensure the safe passage of ambulances transporting the sick and wounded whenever necessary," the group said in a statement.
The Tamil Tigers have been fighting for over two decades for an independent state for the country's 3.1 million Tamil minority, citing decades of discrimination by the Sinhalese-majority state.
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