COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, February 04, SPA -- At least 52 civilians werekilled in the past day's fighting between Tamil rebels andgovernment forces in northern Sri Lanka, and cluster bombsstruck the war zone's last functioning hospital Wednesday,the U.N. said. The strikes occurred as the country marked its 61stIndependence Day with a grand military parade and a speechby President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who declared that themilitary has nearly crushed the 25-year Tamil rebellion fora separate homeland. U.N. spokesman Gordon Weiss told reporters that 52civilians were killed and 80 wounded in fighting Tuesdayinside and outside a government-designated safe zone whereit had pledged not to strike. The fighting is concentrated in a sliver of coastal land,known as Vanni, where an estimated 250,000 Tamil civiliansare trapped along with the last of the Tamil Tiger rebels,who now appear on the verge of defeat after a fruitlesscivil war since 1983 to create a separate homeland for thecountry's minority Tamils, Associated Press reported. About 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting withthe Sinhalese-dominated government. Weiss said 15 U.N. staffers and 81 family members aretrapped in the Puthukkudiyiruppu area, where the hospitalwas hit by cluster bombs Wednesday. He said 90 percent ofpatients have been evacuated to the north includingcritically injured patients and the medical staff. «The last remaining medical facility inside the Vannipocket has been effectively closed,» he said.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/632551