Sri Lankan leader says army rescued 35,000 civilians

Sri Lanka says 35,000 people flee rebels

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s president says the army has rescued 35,000 civilians from a sliver of territory controlled by Tamil rebels.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa says the civilians were freed from an area in the north designated as a “no-fire” zone that is under rebel control.

The military says soldiers advanced into the zone Monday and seized a fortification built by the separatists.

Government forces have captured all rebel strongholds in recent months and boxed the remaining guerrillas into the designated zone, some 7.7 square miles (20 square kilometers) on the northern coast.

The government and aid groups have accused the rebels of holding civilians there as human shields.