Over 600 Tamil civilians flee rebel territory in northern Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, April 9 -- At least 648 Tamil civilians fled from Tamil Tiger rebels' territory to the government controlled area in the north on Wednesday, the Sri Lanka government said on Thursday.

Officials from the Department of Government Information said that 118 Tamil civilians fled the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) controlled zone in Amplavanpokkanai area.

Another 530 civilians were brought to the Pulmddai harbour by the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) using the Green Ocean Ship, the government said.

Meanwhile, a pro-rebel website said 129 civilians inside the no fire zone were killed while 282 were wounded on Wednesday as three artillery shells targeted a child care/nutrition center.

A staff member of the ICRC was killed by a shell at Amplavanpokkanai, on the coastal belt of the territory held by the LTTE on Wednesday, a local newspaper quoted ICRC officials as saying.

The government said over 64,000 Tamil civilians have fled from the rebels' territory to the government controlled area since January this year.

The military said the LTTE have been driven out of their last 1-sq-km stronghold in Puthukkudiyiruppu east and blamed them of mixing up with civilians in the 20-sq-km no fire zone at Puttumatalan area.

Actual number of civilians trapped in the area is being debated. The government argued that only 120,000 people lived there, but international agencies said some 230,000 people had been originally trapped.

A concerned international community has pleaded with both the government and the rebels to care for the safety of civilians amid allegations that a large number of them are receiving injuries or getting killed in the crossfire.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict since the mid-1980s in one of the world's longest civil wars.