Tuesday . Government troops say they have rescued 39,000 civilians trapped in the area , but tens of thousands more remain wedged on the island 's northeastern coast . The area remains controlled by the rebels , the U.S. State Department said Tuesday . The Tigers have been fighting for an independent state in Sri Lanka 's northeast since 1983 . As many as 70,000 people have been killed since the civil war began , and the group has been declared a terrorist organization by 32 countries , including the United States and the European Union . Thousands of civilians remained threatened , Pranab Mukherjee , India 's foreign affairs minister , said in a statement Thursday . He called for an end to hostilities in the area . The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said it is helping the government in the regions of Vavuniya and Jaffna , with emergency shelters and distribution of aid . There are about 38 internally displaced persons sites and authorities are working to come up with more land and buildings for more displaced people . `` UNHCR remains deeply concerned about the estimated 50,000 people who are still trapped inside the conflict zone
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Two senior Indian officials met with the Sri Lankan president Friday in Colombo to address the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn island nation . A Sri Lanka army photo of what it says are refugees fleeing a rebel area . Shiv Shankar Menon , the Indian foreign secretary and M.K. Narayanan , the national security adviser , met with President Mahinda Rajapaksa , according to A.M.J. Sadiq , a foreign ministry official in Sri Lanka . He did not provide further details . `` The Indian message was just short of reading the riot act , '' a source told CNN . Significant numbers of people have been killed or wounded in a Sri Lankan offensive against the faltering Tamil Tiger rebel movement , and thousands are trapped by the fighting , the United Nations said Wednesday . `` Given that the area has shrunk even further , the potential for further significant casualties still remains , '' the U.N. said in a statement . The Sri Lankan army launched an operation against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam in the country 's northern area Monday , and a deadline for the rebels to surrender passed