At least 52 civilians were killed by shelling in Sri Lankan's northern war zone, the United Nations said today, while a crowded hospital was hit again
"There were 52 killed and 80 wounded from one sector," said UN spokesman Gordon Weiss, referring to the area of Suthanthirapuramin.
Mr Weiss said he did not know who was responsible for shelling.
Sri Lanka's military has encircled the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and is confident it will soon win
a war that is one of Asia's longest-running conflicts, in which 70,000 people have been killed since 1983.
The Tigers are holding out in a 300-sq km slice of jungle in Sri Lanka's northeast. Aid agencies say 250,000 people are trapped in Tiger-held areas, but the government says the number is about half that.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the the only hospital in the war zone was evacuated after it was hit for a fifth time in three days. The ICRC says at least 12 people have been killed in the hospital in Puthukudiyiruppu.
The latest casualties came as the island celebrated independence from former colonial ruler Britain.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who presided over a military parade in the capital, Colombo, hailed the military's recent push for victory against what he described as "the most powerful terrorist organisation in the world".
"I am confident that in a few days we will decisively defeat the terrorist force that many repeatedly kept saying was invincible," he said in an address to the nation marking 61 years since independence.
The 30-year civil war has cost the $32 billion economy dearly, and Mr Rajapaksa urged nationals who fled the country to return home.
The United States, the EU, Japan and Norway yesterday urged Tamil Tiger rebels to consider surrendering to avoid more deaths.
In a joint statement yesterday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, raised serious concerns about the plight of civilians caught up in the conflict.
"Secretary Clinton and Foreign Secretary Miliband call on both the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE to agree to a temporary no-fire period. Both sides need to allow civilians and wounded to leave the conflict area and to grant access for humanitarian agencies," the statement said.
Meanwhile the UN said cluster bombs hit the last functioning hospital in Sri Lanka's northern war zone. It is the first time cluster bombs are known to have been used in the government's push to defeat the Tamil Tigers since the collapse of a ceasefire in 2006.
Agencies