Tamil Tiger fighters into approximately 1.5 square miles -LRB- four square kilometers -RRB- of coastal land . The United Nations estimates that more than 50,000 civilians are trapped there . CNN 's Paula Newton reports on the plight of trapped civilians '' The chunk of land , known as the no-fire zone or civilian safety area , was under siege by government forces Friday , according to Tamilnet.com , a rebel Web site . `` The entire safety zone area is in smoke ... as shelling by the Sri Lanka army was destroying all the structures within a narrow strip of coastal land , which is densely populated with tens of thousands of people , '' Tamilnet said . Humanitarian aid groups have reported mass civilian casualties in the fighting . `` The government is moving forward in extremely difficult circumstances . After all , the ... Tamil Tigers are seeded amidst the middle of all these civilians . It 's very difficult to weed out and identify who is a fighter and who is not , '' said Gordon Weiss , a U.N. spokesman . `` It makes it very very dangerous for civilians , and it explains the
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Sri Lanka 's quarter-century-long civil war is in its final phase , the government suggested Friday , as its troops pounded Tamil Tiger rebels in the country 's north . This picture , released by the Sri Lankan defense ministry , is said to be of a dead Tamil Tiger body captured after fighting on May 14 , 2009 . The rebels -- formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam -LRB- LTTE -RRB- -- have fought for an independent state in Sri Lanka since 1983 . As many as 70,000 people have been killed since the civil war began . President Mahinda Rajapaksa said the end of the current military push , which is often referred to as a civilian rescue mission , is less than 48 hours away . He spoke from Jordan on Friday , where he 's attending an economic summit . `` The Tamil civilians held hostage by the LTTE in small area of land in the north would be rescued , and the Tamils would be saved from the threat of LTTE terrorism , '' Rajapaksa said . In a rapid military push , Sri Lankan forces have squeezed