Since January more than 55,286 civilians including women, children and the elderly have fled the LTTE area to the safety of government held areas, military sources said.

The number of civilians that crossed over to the Government controlled area yesterday was 1,386, these include413 men, 378 women, 315 boys and 330 girls who were rescued and taken to safety of government held areas.

There are 15 welfare centers in Vavniya and 15,126 families are accommodating in those centers and these civilians have fled from the declared No Fire Zone and arrived into liberated territory.