The Ceylon News

John Holmes also called on the Sri Lankan government to allow civilians to leave safely, either by agreeing to a temporary halt in hostilities or the establishment of a humanitarian corridor for safe passage through the front lines in the South Asian island's northeast.

Steps are also needed "to ensure a peaceful, orderly and humane end to the fighting," he said. "The risk of a very bloody end to this long running conflict is otherwise unacceptably high."

Holmes briefed the U.N. Security Council on his visit to Sri Lanka on a day when government troops drove deeper into the Tamil Tigers' dwindling stronghold, confining the rebels to an area smaller than Manhattan. The government has said it is on the verge of destroying the rebels and ending the Indian Ocean nation's quarter-century civil war.

"Estimates vary of the number of civilians trapped, from 70,000 according to the government, through around 200,000 according to U.N. estimates, up to 300,000 or more according to Tamil groups," Holmes said.

"The number of casualties from the fighting, among whom we believe are many civilians, cannot be verified in the absence of independent sources, since humanitarian agencies and the media have no access to the area, but we believe dozens of people per day at least are being killed and many more wounded," he added.

Holmes said the physical condition of civilians caught in the fighting is also "of increasing concern" because the only supplies that have gotten into the area are limited amounts brought in by sea by the International Red Cross and government agents.

"Food, medical supplies, clean water, sanitation facilities and shelter are now extremely short," he said. "The risks from hunger and diseases are growing rapidly, in addition to those from the fighting."