The government says the rebels are facing all-out defeat in the war
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UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon says he is sending a humanitarian team to northern Sri Lanka, where thousands of civilians are trapped by fighting.
Earlier today, the government rejected a UN appeal to allow more aid agencies into the war zone, where the army is closing in on Tamil Tiger rebels.
The government says 100,000 people have fled since Monday's military push, in addition to 60,000 in recent months.
But the UN estimates that 50,000 people are still trapped in the crossfire.
"So many lives have been sacrificed. There is no time to lose," Mr Ban told a news conference in Brussels as he announced the immediate despatch of the humanitarian team into the heart of the conflict.
The deal to allow in the UN team was brokered by top UN official VJ Nambiar when he met Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse.
Rejected appeal
Thousands of people are caught with the Tamil Tigers in a 12-sq-km (5-sq-mile) area in the north of the country as the military closes in.
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We are going very slowly to rescue the remaining civilians... Our troops are not using heavy fire power
Gotabhaya Rajapaksa
Sri Lankan Defence Secretary
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Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa earlier rejected a UN appeal to allow aid agencies in.
"It's not a sensible thing at the moment," he told the BBC. "There is a civilian rescue operation going on in the area and allowing aid agencies inside the conflict zone is not matching with ground realities."
While the government has allowed aid agencies to help those fleeing the conflict, Sri Lanka's UN ambassador says only the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Catholic charity, Caritas, have been let into the war zone itself.
The ICRC said they had evacuated 530 people on Thursday and 350 the day before, including families as well as sick and wounded people.
'No heavy fire'
Late on Tuesday, the UN Security Council called on the Tamil Tigers to lay down their arms, and urged the Sri Lankan government to allow international aid agencies into the areas where people need help.
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View satellite images showing area in northern Sri Lanka where refugees have gathered on the beach.
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Advocacy groups have been critical of the Council, accusing it of inaction in the face of the suffering in Sri Lanka.
The UN and other Western nations - including the US and the UK - have been pressing for an immediate halt to the fighting to allow time for civilians to leave the war zone safely.
The government categorically denies rebel charges that hundreds of civilians have been killed by the army.
"We are going very slowly towards the south of the no-fire zone to rescue the remaining civilians," said Mr Rajapaksa, the most senior civilian official in charge of the war.
"Our troops are not using heavy fire power, they are using only guns and personal weapons," he added.
The Tamil Tigers, meanwhile, deny accusations that they are holding civilians as human shields.
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