Desperate exodus as thousands flee war zone

COLOMBO - Tens of thousands of civilians fled Sri Lanka's northern war zone in an exodus ahead of the Government's deadline last night for separatist Tamil rebels there to surrender.

Officials claimed that more than 39,000 civilians arrived at military checkpoints yesterday, within hours of a military operation that saw Sri Lankan soldiers break through a barrier that the Tamil Tiger rebels had erected to defend their ever-shrinking slice of territory along the northern coast.

It began with ones and twos, small groups of people rushing to escape. Quickly the thin line of people had become a flood.

The number of fleeing civilians was the largest in a single day, and that rate was expected to increase overnight as more people made their way out, said military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.

The Red Cross said its workers had tended to 4000 people who crossed the front lines.

But precisely how many escaped was impossible to verify as journalists and most aid groups are prevented from reaching the area.

The Government issued a 24-hour deadline on Monday for the cornered rebels to surrender or face a final assault - a signal that the insurgents may be on the verge of total defeat after 25 years of rebellion.

The Government revealed remarkable images taken by pilotless drones flying over the so-called "no-fire zone" that it said showed thousands of people fleeing.

"We have given [Tiger leader Velupillai] Prabhakaran 24 hours to get out of town. The next step will be to remove [the rebels]," said a Defence Ministry spokesman.

The greenish images showed crowds of people running westwards towards the front line. Some crossed a lagoon while others could be seen scrambling down an earth embankment that had been breached by the troops. "People were wading through the water, chest deep," said Vice Air Marshal Kolitha Gunatilleke.

Gunatilleke, who showed images of the escape during a press briefing at the Air Force control centre in Colombo, estimated the civilians had to run just a kilometre to reach government-controlled territory, where large crowds of people could be seen massing around a makeshift processing centre.

Aid groups said recently that more than 100,000 civilians were stranded in the war zone, while the Government put the number at about 40,000.

More than 4500 civilians have been killed in the past three months, according to United Nations estimates. The UN Children's Fund said it fears for the safety of children still trapped in the war zone if fighting continues and the rebels refuse to allow people to leave.

"With this latest surge in fighting, our greatest fear is that the worst is yet to come," said Daniel Toole, the agency's South Asia director.

"If fighting continues and if the [Tamil Tigers] refuse to allow people to leave the conflict zone, then we face the intolerable inevitability of seeing many more children killed."

The UN and others have called for a negotiated truce. But the Government has rejected such calls.

Government medical officials in the enclave, whose claims are denied by Colombo, say there are inadequate supplies of food and that many mothers are too malnourished to feed their babies.

"The living conditions are dire," said James Elder, a spokesman for Unicef in Sri Lanka. "Children are lacking essentials such as water, food and medicines."

The images released by the military showed a large number of civilians living directly on the beach, hiding in bunkers and sheltering under pieces of blue tarpaulin. The military said it believed many Tiger fighters were living among civilians, making it impossible to effect a rescue using boats.

The Government said the exodus had forced it to step up its humanitarian preparations. A senior official claimed the authorities had been ready to deal with about 100,000 civilians, but the figure may be 30,000 higher.

All the civilians are being taken to refugee camps encircled by razor wire. Sri Lankan officials say they will be held there for up to a year while de-mining operations are carried out and they are assessed as potential security threats. Conditions are basic and refugees have complained of a lack of water.

While many say they are happy to be out of the war zone, almost all are concerned about how long they will have to stay before they can go home.

- INDEPENDENT, AP