At least 13,000 Tamil civilians who had been forcibly held hostage by the LTTE terrorists in the government declared No Fire Zone (NFZ) in the North-East of Sri Lanka fled from their captivity and entered government held Safe Zone from the early hours in this morning (April 20), Defence sources confirmed.

The escape of these Tamil civilians was enabled by the Security Forces at Pudumathalana advancing to the 3km long earth bund the LTTE had built on the fringe of the NFZ and destroying it early today.

It is reported that many more Tamil civilians are waiting to crossover to government held Safe Areas. There also reports of widespread revolts by these civilians against the armed LTTE cadres keeping them hostage.