50,000 stuck in war zone

Tens of thousands of civilians trapped in Sri Lanka’s northern war zone face a “catastrophic” situation, the Red Cross said Tuesday amid fear that a final assault against the Tamil Tiger rebels would lead to a dramatic rise in casualties.

The United Nations and others have called for a negotiated truce to allow civilians to leave the rebel-held coastal strip.

The government said that more than 52,000 had escaped since Monday. But it has refused to heed international pleas to halt the fighting, saying it is on the verge of crushing the separatists and putting an end to the 25-year-old war.

The U.N. estimates that more than 4,500 civilians have been killed in the last three months.

The rebels said more than 1,000 civilians died Monday in a government raid, but the government said it rescued thousands of people after they broke through a barrier built by insurgents to protect their last stronghold.

Human rights groups say the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are holding many people in the enclave against their will and using them as human shields. Those groups have also accused the government of indiscriminate shelling in the region. Both sides deny the allegations.

Thousands of civilians also fled in packed small boats, and they were picked up by navy patrols and transported to camps where Tamils who have escaped the war are being held. More than 2,000 people in about 100 boats were picked up Monday.

The Red Cross said about 50,000 civilians were still stranded; Human Rights Watch estimated the number at 50,000 to 100,000.

The U.S. government released satellite images Tuesday showing about 25,000 tents housing civilians squeezed into the last small strip controlled by the rebels, a coastal area of about 8 square miles.

The State Department estimated about 125,000 people were in the conflict zone before the exodus of the last two days.