WORLD BRIEFING / SRI LANKA

Hundreds who fled intense fighting in Sri Lanka’s war zone awaited evacuation from a tiny coastal village as the U.N. reported that nearly 6,500 ethnic Tamil civilians had been killed in the last three months.

Speaking to journalists on a rare visit to the edge of the war zone, civilians said Tamil Tiger rebels used them as human shields. Conditions “were terrible as we did not have anything to eat. We thought, it’s better to flee,” said Rajeshwarai, 40, who gave only her first name.

She and other civilians moved with the retreating rebels for months as the advancing army chipped away at the insurgents’ territory. The rebels promised the civilians protection, Rajeshwarai said. “But they did not keep the promise.”

The U.N. estimated that 50,000 people were still trapped in the war zone after more than 100,000 fled this week.