Conflict in northern Sri Lanka

A Sri Lankan government soldier wearing a face mask and goggles rides in an armoured personal carrier on the outskirts of the town of Putumatalan Photograph: David Gray/Reuters

Sri Lankan ethnic Tamil civilians arrive at the government-controlled area in Puthukudiyiruppu Photograph: Eranga Jayawardena/AP

A Sri Lankan army helicopter flies over Kilinochi Photograph: Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images

An elderly Tamil civilian sits among the rubble of a village near Puthukkudiyiruppu Photograph: Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images

A Sri Lankan army soldier stands guard as smokes billows in the background near the front line at Puthukkudiyiruppu Photograph: Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images

Sri Lankan government soldiers stand behind a display of weapons they say were captured from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) near the town of Kilinochchi Photograph: David Gray/Reuters

Images of LTTE leaders killed by the Sri Lankan army Photograph: Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images

Government soldiers walk past destoyed buildings in the town of Putumatalan, near the no-fire zone in northern Sri Lanka Photograph: David Gray/Reuters

Civilians, some of the more than 100,000 that have fled the area held by the LTTE, hold food and water they were handed by government soldiers in the town of Putumatalan Photograph: David Gray/Reuters

Army soldiers use a tractor and trailer to ferry provisions to the front line at Puthukkudiyiruppu Photograph: Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images

Tamil civillians believed to have been injured in fighting between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels gather under a tarpaulin in the grounds of a hospital in Mullivakkal on 22 April Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Civilians arrive at the village of Putumatalan in Puthukkudiyirippu, northern Sri Lanka, after fleeing an area still controlled by the LTTE Photograph: /Reuters