More than 2,100 civilians have fled a Tamil Tiger-held zone in northern Sri Lanka, the military said Monday as the country's president urged rebel fighters to surrender.

Military officials said 2,127 people escaped to a government-controlled area late Sunday as fighting between soldiers and members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) raged on.

Sri Lanka's military said it had killed 453 rebel fighters during the past three days.

In a statement posted on the government's web site on Monday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa urged the rebels to lay down their arms to spare the lives of thousands of civilians believed trapped in the 17-square km no-fire zone.

Sri Lanka maintains it has cornered the rebels in the zone along the country's northeast coast and will soon put an end to 25 years of civil war. The military said it had captured the last remaining rebel stronghold on Sunday night.

"The only way out for the rebels is to save their lives, and if they lay down arms and surrender, it will save the lives of the trapped civilians too," Rajapaksa was quoted as saying.

Rajapaksa "resolutely denied any intentions for a truce and insisted that the Tigers must lay down arms and allow civilians a safe passage into liberated areas," the military statement said.

The United Nations estimates 150,000 to 190,000 civilians are trapped there, with dozens dying each day. The government says 30,000 to 40,000 still remain, and more than 23,000 civilians escaped last month.

The Tigers have fought since 1983 for an independent state for the Tamil minority, which suffered decades of marginalization at the hands of governments dominated by the Sinhalese majority. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting.

The Canadian government added the Tigers to its official list of terrorist organizations in 2006 for the group's use of suicide bombers and child soldiers in the conflict.

With files from the Associated Press