[BBC]

Tens of thousands of civilians died in the final phase of Sri Lanka’s civil war - most of them killed in shelling by government forces, a UN panel says. In a report on possible war crimes in the last months of the war in 2009, the panel also says Tamil Tiger rebels used civilians as human shields.

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[New York Times]

A United Nations panel investigating allegations of war crimes by Sri Lankan troops at the end of the bloody battle against Tamil rebels in May 2009 found credible evidence that government soldiers made civilians a target, shelled hospitals and attacked aid workers, according to an unauthorized copy of the panel’s report.

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