The first supply convoy since the relocation of all UN relief agencies and other humanitarian organisations out of the Vanni region in north-central Sri Lanka reached the area controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on 2 October, UN and government officials said.
The convoy comprised 51 trucks, 30 carrying food supplies from the World Food Programme (WFP) and another 21 organised by the Government Agents. It was the first supply convoy since 16 September when UN and international NGOs relocated from the Vanni following a government directive amid deteriorating security.
"The convoy crossed into areas controlled by the Tigers this morning," Gordon Weiss, UN spokesman in Sri Lanka, told IRIN. "These supplies are vital for the tens of thousands of civilians who have been displaced by the fighting. These convoys will be the only lifeline providing supplies to the displaced [in the Vanni] and it is essential that they continue."
There are at least 221,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the two districts in the Vanni, Kilinochchi and Mullaithivu, according to the situation report released by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) on 2 October. More than two-thirds of the IDPs have moved into the Mullaithivu District, in the eastern Vanni.
 Photo: The Sri Lanka Army  |
| Nine trucks of the Government Agents were not allowed to proceed when banned items, including C-4 explosives, were found on board |
He said the government was aiming to organise weekly convoys with UN participation. "When the first convoy returns to government-held areas, the next one will be loaded and ready to move."
The convoy transported 650 metric tonnes of food supplies, the UN said in a statement released on 2 October. UN international staff accompanied the vehicles to monitor the distribution that was due to take place at four different locations in the Vanni where IDPs are concentrated.
The UN said the number of vehicles in the convoy was reduced when banned items were found in nine lorries being used by the Government Agents.
"The convoy was reduced from 60 trucks to 51 after explosives and other illicit items were discovered on government-provided trucks that were due to join the convoy," according to the UN statement.
New route
Weiss said the convoy took a new route to the Vanni, travelling on a north-easterly road. Earlier supply convoys had travelled directly north from the Omanthai entry/exit point that connects areas under Tiger control with those controlled by the government. However, intense clashes close to the A9 highway that cuts through the Vanni had prompted a change of route.
Heavy fighting was reported in and around Kilinochchi, the Tiger administrative centre, on the morning the convoy travelled. The Defence Ministry said Air Force jets had bombed the Tiger military headquarters, north-east of the Kilinochchi town, at around 12:40 pm.
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