The US has asked the Sri Lankan government to probe allegations of war crime. A detailed report was submitted by the State Department to the Congress.

The report narrated the accusations of government shelling on civilians in early 2009 and recruiting of children by the LTTE to fight the war.

The State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said, “The government of Sri Lanka has said that they are determined to establish a reconciliation process with the people of the north, but we believe strongly that a very important part of any reconciliation process is accountability.”

He added that the report lays emphasis on how the military operations were conducted.

The United Nations has put the death rate at around 80,000 to 100,000 since 1983.

Moreover, the State Department has pointed out that they cannot come to a conclusion as to whether the killings can be termed as war crimes or international human rights violation.

The LTTE also is blamed in the report for recruiting young children less than 12 years for war purposes.

Along with the report is attached a gruesome catalogue that alleges the killing of captives, those who were willing to surrender, and murder of Tamil civilians and the poor humanitarian conditions of refugees in camps.

The report was discarded by the Sri Lankan government calling it “unsubstantiated and devoid of corroborative evidence.”

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement, “Thereby these interests hope to fan, once again, the flames of secessionism and to undo the concerted efforts of the government and people of Sri Lanka, for rehabilitation and national reconciliation.”

The US has asked Sri Lanka to throw open the war areas in the north to enable a probe by international organizations.