COLOMBO: Ethnic Tamil lawmakers have rejected a government invitation for talks, urging the government to first ensure the safety of tens of thousands of civilians trapped in the war zone.

The ethnic Tamil politicians had been invited by President Mahinda Rajapaksa for talks to discuss the situation in the north.

The Tamil National Alliance, the largest political party for ethnic Tamils, said it had written to Rajapaksa saying it would not participate until the government halts its military campaign and the people trapped in the war zone are sent more food and medicine.

TNA lawmaker Rajavarothayam Sambanthan told a news conference: “Any political dialogue can be meaningful only when the humanitarian crisis comes to an end.” He said about 50 civilians are killed in the fighting daily.

Meanwhile, the military said yesterday it has repulsed a Tamil Tiger counterattack in the north of the island and killed at least 30 of the rebels.

The fighting took place on the edge of a shrinking enclave controlled by the rebels, formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, in the war-ravaged north, which government troops are battling to capture to end a 25-year-old civil war.

“They (the rebels) tried to attack our forward defense lines of Iranaippalai yesterday ... We successfully repulsed the attack and over 30 LTTE cadres were reported killed,” military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said. He said a number of soldiers were wounded but gave no details.

Access to the war zone is restricted, and it was not possible to confirm the report.

The rebels once controlled a large swath of territory in the north and east. A series of major victories by government forces in recent weeks has confined rebel holdouts — along with tens of thousands of terrified civilians - to 8.4 square miles (21 square kilometers) of jungle and beach on the northeastern coast.

The government says the area includes a thin strip of “no-fire” zone along the coast, which is also being used by the rebels for attacks against government troops.

A government doctor who runs a makeshift hospital in the war zone, Thurairaja Varatharajah, said shelling in the “no-fire” area killed 54 people. It was not possible to confirm who fired the shells.

The military has repeatedly denied it has shelled the “no-fire” zone that it has proclaimed as a place for civilians to seek safety. The government has disputed statements by Varatharajah in the past.