Over 2,000 Tamil civilians flee LTTE held - Area.

Over 2,200 Tamil civilians on Thursdaybraved LTTE gunfire and made a breakout from the areas held by the rebels indicating that the collapse of Tamil Tigers could be in the offing as Sri Lankan forces pressed ahead with their offensive.

The civilians fled from the last remaining areas held by the LTTE in Waduvakkal in Wanni region and four died and 14 were injured in firing by the rebels, a military spokesman said. U.N. estimates that 50,000 people are still trapped in the war zone.

In scenes reminiscent of the breakout of thousands of civilians in Pudhukudiyyiruppu on April 20, hundreds of people crossed lagoons to reach to safety as international aid agencies said the area was wracked by heavy fighting despite calls by U.S. President Barack Obama and the U.N. Security Council to stop indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas.

Thousands of Sri Lankan civilians waded across a lagoon under fire from the Tamil Tigers today to escape the pocket of northeastern coastline where the army has surrounded rebels in what looks like the final stages of a 26-year civil war.

The army said that aerial surveillance footage showed that about 5,000 people had escaped the conflict zone, which now covers less than 1.5 square miles (3.9 square km), and had come under fire from the Tigers.

At least four civilians were killed and 14 injured, said Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, a military spokesman for the United Nations which estimates there are up to 50,000 civilians trapped in the area. He confirmed that 5,000-6,000 of them were either crossing the lagoon or had already reached the other side safely.

Amin Awad, the UN’s acting representative for Sri Lanka, also accused the Tigers of opening fire on the civilians.