Late yesterday, shells were fired at the church complex where 3,000 people displaced by the fighting had sought refuge since Thursday. One shell hit the Sacred Heart Chapel in the complex inside which the refugees had settled down for the night. Twenty-eight people were killed on the spot. The wounded were taken by the army to Vavuniya hospital, with ten succumbing after admission. Several others are reported to be in serious condition. Besides the chapel, the main shrine is also reported to be damaged. There was panic and fear at the church among the refugees who had believed till then that they were safe within its premises.

A five km radius around the shrine is demarcated as the Madhu ChurchReservation, and through 15 years of conflict right until yesterday, this was a zone of tranquility in the midst of the vast battlefield of northern Sri Lanka.

On Saturday, the army moved in to this demilitarised zone around the church in armoured cars to push back the Tamil Tigers who had captured the area in fighting over Thursday and Friday.

A statement from the defence ministry after troops had "consolidated", the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam launched an "indiscriminate mortar attack" on the Madhu church premises around 8 pm. It accused the separatist group of causing the deaths of civilians. In turn, the LTTE in its Voice of Tigers broadcast on Sunday morning did not deny attacking the church but charged the Sri Lanka Army with using civilians as a human shield.

Meanwhile, an angry statement issued jointly by Bishop Rayappu Joseph of Mannar and Bishop Malcolm Ranjith, secretary of Sri Lanka's Catholic Bishops' Conference pointed out that there were 300 soldiers in the church compound at thetime of the attack.

He said never before in its 450-year-old history had the church been so desecrated as yesterday. He asked both the LTTE and the army to immediately clear out of the area and "strictly refrain from using Madhu for any strategic or political advantage".

The shrine of Our Lady of Madhu is Sri Lanka's most famous Catholic church, and before the start of the island's ethnic conflict, drew pilgrims in vast numbers. Since the middle last of week, it has been in the eye of a fierce battle for supremacy between the LTTE and the security forces.