TRINCOMALEE, April 26: Hundreds of civilians and many humanitarian organisations began moving out of the north and east as fears of war heightened when government warplanes started pounding eastern LTTE bases for the second consecutive day.

Nearly 20,000 people have reportedly fled the Trincomalee district and adjoining areas after 12 civilians were killed during the air raid. Two navy sailors were wounded when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fired back, military sources said.

Military spokesman Brig Prasad Samarasinghe said the strikes came after the LTTE fired on a naval patrol craft off Trincomalee for the second day.

The LTTE’s spokesperson Daya Master refuted the allegations but blamed the military for the killing of civilians and said the LTTE would retaliate.

“Yes we would retaliate if the government continued the attacks”, the spokesperson told Dawn while the head of the LTTE peace secretariat S. Puleedevan echoed the statement. The army said it had closed the road link with rebel territory to stop LTTE men from infiltrating into Colombo. In the northern Jaffna district two soldiers were killed and two LTTE supporters injured in separate incidents.