Sri Lanka urges 250,000 Tamil civilians to flee to 'safety zone'

Sri Lanka's military declared a "safety zone" Wednesday to enable some 250,000 trapped civilians to cross into government-controlled territory from the diminishing area held by Tamil Tiger rebels in the war-torn north.

The air force dropped leaflets urging civilians in the region to travel to the 35 square-kilometre safety zone in rebel territory and remain there until the army can transport them to safer locations, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said.

"We will not fire into that area," Nanayakkara said.

It was unclear how the Tamil refugees would be transported out of the war zone. The government said it has set up initial temporary shelters in the Vavuniya area, far south of the fighting, where food and water will be provided.

The announcement came as the military pushed ahead with an offensive in the north aimed at defeating the insurgents and ending the country's 25-year-old civil war. The military has captured most of the de facto state run by the rebels and boxed them into a small territory in the northeast.

Human rights groups have raised concerns for the safety of people living in a shrinking territory under siege.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has accused the rebels of preventing people from fleeing, while the Tigers say they are protecting civilians who voluntarily move with them.

Independent accounts of the situation for civilians in the war zone are not available because journalists and aid groups are barred from going into the area.

The Tamil Tigers have been fighting since 1983 to establish an independent state for minority Tamils, who have suffered decades of marginalization at the hands of successive governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the violence.