The retreating rebels though left a chilling legacy of land mines that are strewn across the peninsula, hampering the army's advance. Rebel ambushes and raids also forced the military to reinforce defence lines with landmines. Some areas close to Jaffna, however, have been cleared of mines and residents are being urged to return. But vast stretches of farm land and villages in the peninsula remain mined. Those who remained in the war zone now live with the fear of being caught in the cross-fire or losing lives and limbs to landmines.
Children are particularly vulnerable.
There are no official figures of casualties, but non- governmental groups say at least 196 people were killed between May and December 1996. Udayan', a top-selling Tamil language weekly published from Jaffna, said 84 people died and 145 were injured between January and August last year. A U.N team visited Jaffna recently and assessed the extent of the problem. We are discussing further with the government on this issue,'' said Arve Ofstad, the UNDP representative in Colombo. He told IPS that, according to his information, landmines maim or kill between 15 and 20 people in the Jaffna peninsula every month.