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Lankan forces advance further as 80,000 Tamilians flee war zone

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New Delhi, April 22, IRNA -- Making a final push to overrun the last patch of LTTE-held territory, Sri Lankan forces Wednesday pushed deeper, capturing six kilometers of the 18 km 'No Fire Zone' as thousands of trapped Tamils civilians continued to flee the northern war zone.

Over 80,000 civilians have so far crossed over to government controlled 'safe zone' till this morning, PTI reported quoting Sri Lankan Defense Ministry spokesman.

Meanwhile, UN and other aid agencies estimates are that there could be anywhere up to 200,000 people trapped in the 'No Fire Zone'.

Satellite imagery of the embattled zone released for the first time showed that tens of thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils were squeezed into the last small strip of land controlled by the Tamil Tigers.

The imagery released by the US State Department shows about 25,000 tents packed into a coastal strip about 18 sq km, promting US and Red Cross officials to ask Colombo for a pause to enable women and children to escape the conflict zone.

At least 46 rebels were killed in fresh fighting as Sri Lankan troops moved north of Ampalawanpokkani in hunt for the LTTE supremo V Prabhakaran and his top aides with top government officials saying that they were still holed up in the area.

A top LTTE leader had said yesterday that Prabhakaran was still in the battle zone and leading his men in conflict.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of civilians trapped in Sri Lanka's northern war zone face a 'catastrophic' situation, the Red Cross said Tuesday, amid fears a final assault against the Tamil Tiger rebels would lead to a dramatic rise in casualties.

"The situation is nothing short of catastrophic. Ongoing fighting has killed or wounded hundreds of civilians who have only minimal access to medical care," said Red Cross operations director Pierre Kraehenbuehl.

"I cannot remember ... as much concentrated pain and exposure to violence with very, very minimal possibilities to reach anywhere that could be called safe."

The UN Children's Fund South Asia director Daniel Toole said he was worried about the safety of children still in the war zone because 'our greatest fear is that the worst is yet to come'.

The United Nations and others have called for a negotiated truce to allow civilians to leave the rebel-held coastal strip.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa rejected a call by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for a pause in the fighting, his office said Tuesday.