Thousands more flee Sri Lanka war zone
Updated on 06 February 2009
More than 2,200 people have fled Sri Lanka's war zone as the military vowed a quick end to the country's 25-year-old civil war.
The fighting is concentrated around a shrinking circle of jungle in the northeast of the island, where the military said it has all but surrounded the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) separatists or Tamil Tigers.
But aid agencies, the Sri Lankan government and a growing list of nations have said that tens of thousands of civilians are still trapped inside the 67 sq mile battlefield zone by the Tamil Tigers and are under grave threat of harm from the fighting.
"Today, 600 people have come up until now," military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said. On Thursday, 1,637 escaped the fighting, he said.
The Tamil Tigers, once widely regarded as one of the world's most ruthlessly effective guerrilla organisation, are now nearing defeat, according to analysts.
And President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said the ground war could be over in days. "We are going to do it as fast as possible. Let the civilians come out and then we will show how fast will do it," he said.
Sri Lanka has said it will allow civilians safe passage, but has flatly refused calls for a ceasefire for negotiations.
Mr Rajapaksa told United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon that the military operation would proceed while ensuring civilians are kept safe.
The US, Britain, the European Union and others have urged the Tigers to surrender, and for both sides to stop firing temporarily to allow civilians out and aid in.
On Wednesday, the UN said 52 people had been killed from shelling but it did not say who was responsible.
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