Colombo - UNICEF officials on Tuesday expressed serious concern about children caught up in the conflict in the northern part of Sri Lanka and urged both sides - the government and Tamil rebels - to provide protection to civilians.

"UNICEF reiterates the call it has made time and again to the government and the LTTE (Tamil rebels) that civilians, especially children, must be given every protection from the fighting," the UN agency said in a statement.

The organisation said there were clear indications that the Tamil rebels had intensified forcible recruitment of civilians, and children as young as 14 were being targeted.

"The children are facing immediate danger and their lives are at great risk. Their recruitment is intolerable," UNICEF's representative in Sri Lanka Philippe Duamelle was quoted as saying in a statement.

UNICEF said it had recorded 6,000 cases of child recruitment by the LTTE from 2003 to end of 2008.

UNICEF also said it was extremely alarmed at the high number of children being injured in the fighting in the northern area of Sri Lanka.

"Children are victims of this conflict by being killed, injured, recruited, displaced, separated and denied their every-day needs due to the fighting," UNICEF said.

They said the main injuries to children have been burns, fractures, shrapnel and bullet wounds.

The UNICEF call came as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) evacuated some 440 civilians, including children and women, by sea from the areas of fighting in the north-eastern part of the country.

Fighting is taking place in the Mullaitivu district where the Tamil rebels are reported to be confined to an area of 140 square kilometres.

But at least 100,000 civilians are also reported to be trapped in the area, after some 34,000 left the area following intense fighting between security forces and the rebels.

Tamil rebels have prevented civilians from leaving the area, fearing it would then be easy for the security forces to enter the area.

A moderate Tamil political party in Sri Lanka Tuesday called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa to direct the armed forces to stop aerial bombing and firing artillery until all trapped civilians are brought to safety.

V Anandasangaree, who heads the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) and had been critical of the rebels, said in a statement that 288 persons had been killed and 766 injured last week in the fighting.

But Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa denied the possibility of mass civilian casualties, saying that among them are Tamil rebels dressed in civilian clothing.

Government troops launched military offensives to recapture Tamil rebel held areas in the north and eastern provinces in August, 2006 and since then have captured almost all areas held by the rebels. Military leaders say they are now engaged in the final phase of the campaign, ending the rebel movement that has been fighting for the last 25 years. (dpa)