[CNN]

Mounting violence between rebel fighters and government troops along northern Sri Lanka has prompted U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to call for the safety of civilians as humanitarian groups try to provide aid to some 250,000 people trapped in the region. “The secretary-general is deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of civilians caught in intensified fighting in the Vanni region of Sri Lanka,” a spokesman for Ban said in a statement Monday. Ban called on the government and the separatist Tamil Tigers to respect “no-fire zones” and civilians areas, including schools, hospitals and humanitarian posts. He also asked both sides to allow the 250,000 civilians trapped in the fighting to move to “safe areas.”

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[UCAN]

Catholic clergy and Religious, fearing a “great human tragedy” in northern Sri Lanka, have asked U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to call on their government to stop the war and put an end to the suffering of civilians. In a letter titled “SOS - Agonizing Cry of the People of Vanni,” Father James Pathinathar called for U.N. intervention on behalf of civilians trapped in the government military offensive against Tamil rebels in the Vanni jungle region, 250 kilometers north of Colombo. Father Pathinathar, parish priest of St. Peter’s Church in Mullaithivu, has been forced to take refuge at another church due to the fighting. He appeals for negotiations and a humane, just and lasting political solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.

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