TRINCOMALEE (Sri Lanka), Aug 27: The first foreign nationals and aid workers to be evacuated from Sri Lanka’s besieged north sailed into this eastern port on Sunday, only to be met by volleys of rockets and artillery amid fresh fighting.

The Sri Lankan military said it fired artillery and mortar bombs at rebel positions south of the Tiger-held town of Sampur after the Tigers fired at a patrol near an army camp.

Dragging suitcases and belongings behind them as they disembarked from a Red Cross-chartered passenger ferry, dozens of evacuees told of fear and frustration at the fighting and curfews in the northern Jaffna peninsula.—Reuters