The Ceylon News

Over 16,600 civilians, including a large number of children and women, have fled the conflict zone in northern Sri Lanka in the last eight days, as Colombo kept up its offensive in the rebel-held areas while asking the LTTE to surrender unconditionally.

"Over 16,600 civilians have moved from Wanni region into relief camps in Jaffna, Vavuniya and other areas between February 1 and 8," army spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said. Last month, 3,400 people had come to government-controlled areas.

It is expected that at least 80,000 more people will move to government-controlled areas in the next few weeks, he said.

President Mahinda Rajapakse last night warned the rebels, who are now limited to a narrow strip of land, to surrender or get killed.

"They must let civilians go and then unconditionally give themselves up... I must warn them we will not halt our operations against terrorism until we reach our final objective," he said.

Speaking about the sudden increase in the number of civilians fleeing rebel-held areas in Wanni, a senior defence official said it is a result of a "well-planned rescue mission launched by the security forces".

"Army manoeuvres have been planned and executed with great care in order to increase the opportunity of the civilians to get out," the official said.

At least 41 LTTE cadres were killed, 34 of them in a fierce clash in Mullaittivu, as the advancing Sri Lankan Army thwarted a major rebel infiltration bid on their defence lines.

"As many as 34 LTTE cadres in an armour-plated lorry were approaching the Security Forces Forward Defence Line (FDL) at high speed when the troops assisted by armour tank fire destroyed the vehicle killing all the terrorists inside," the army said in a statement.

The incident occurred in south of Puthukudirippu area in Mullaittivu, the army said.

During subsequent search, troops found 34 dead bodies of the LTTE cadres along with their weapons, it said. Meanwhile, six LTTE cadres were killed when two sea Tiger boats were destroyed at an area 10 km north east of Mullativu this morning, the army said.

In Ramanathapuram and Visuamadu areas in Mullaitivu, troops further stepped into the LTTE hiding areas in order to consolidate their defences, the Defence Ministry said.

The army claimed to have engaged in a rescue mission to open a safe passage to facilitate the escape of Tamil civilians trapped in the rebel-held areas.

Separately, infantrymen also found weapons and claymore mines left behind by LTTE cadres in Visuamadu, where a body of a Tiger rebel was also found, the army said. A search operation by infantrymen also found 26 hand grenades in Ramanathapuram, while troops of the 12 Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment found dry ration stores and 35 barrels of oil containing 7,350 litres of diesel in Visuamadu, the army said.

One T-56 weapon, five claymore mines, two anti-aircraft gun barrels and two empty thermobaric weapons were among the items recovered.

At Mullaittivu, the LTTE cadres suffered heavy damages in confrontations with troops in Pudukudirippu and Kuruvikulam areas yesterday, the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said. In East Visuamadu as well, the rebels suffered losses during fierce fighting, it said.

Some soldiers conducting operations in the Visuamadu area were also injured in an anti-personal mine explosion yesterday, the MCNS said. An LTTE mortar launching position consisting of one 81mm mortar and one 60 mm mortar was also recovered, it said.

The Sri Lankan military has pushed the Tamil Tigers back into a small sliver of territory [AFP] More than 1,400 civilians have poured out of the conflict zone in the north of Sri Lanka, bringing the total in the past four days to nearly 14,000, the military has said. The exodus comes as the Sri Lankan military tries to deal a final blow to the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). "On Saturday, 5,600 had come out. And today there are 1,400 who have come at the moment. There will be more and more coming," Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, a military spokesman, said on Sunday. More than 50,000 soldiers are converging on a 175 sq km sliver of jungle in the northeast of the Indian Ocean island, where the remaining Tamil Tiger fighters are trapped, the military said. Nanayakkara said that the Tigers, who are listed by the US, EU, Canadian and Indian governments as a "terrorist" group, have in the past week have carried out two suicide attacks in an attempt to stop advancing troops. In Puthukudiyiruppu, which is the last sizeable village believed to be held by the Tigers, 35 LTTE fighters in an armour-plated vehicle launched a suicide attack against government troops, Nanayakkara added. "We believe all 35 were killed but we only recovered 11 bodies," he said. Civilians flee Since January 1, around 17,900 have fled the fighting - roughly between seven and 15 per cent of the total number trapped in the area. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the ongoing conflict [AFP] Aid agencies said around 250,000 were inside the conflict zone before the exodus began, while the government disputed the figures claiming there were only 120,000. The defence ministry said that medical care, food and water was being provided at the frontlines for the fleeing civilians. The government, aid agencies and rights groups have accused the rebels of forcibly keeping people in the war zone as human shields, conscripts and labourers, a charge the Tigers deny. The separatists did not immediately confirm or deny the reports, but the pro-rebel website TamilNet said the military had shelled the A-35 highway and groups of civilians, killing more than 120 people on Friday and Saturday. The International Committee of the Red Cross has said that hundreds of civilians have been killed in the fighting this year. The military denies targeting civilians. It is impossible to independently verify the two sides' claims as journalists are banned from the war zone.