UNITED NATIONS, May 30 (UPI) -- The United Nations says the terrorists responsible for the escalating violence against civilians in Sri Lanka must be brought to justice.
John Holmes, U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, says the surge in violence allegedly perpetrated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a group designated as a terrorist organization by many Western countries, must come to an end.
Holmes on Thursday condemned the recent bombings and other violence in which as many as 35 civilians have been killed and more than 100 have been injured over the last several weeks.
In January the Sri Lankan government announced it planned to pull out of a cease-fire agreement begun in 2002 with the LTTE. Since the end of the agreement, violence has intensified, resulting in what officials at the United Nations estimate is more than 200 civilian deaths.
"The targeting of non-combatants is a contravention of international humanitarian law, for which those responsible must be held accountable," Holmes said in a statement. "This despicable behavior must stop."
