Sri Lanka 20,000 civilians were killed

Twenty thousand civilians were killed in Sri Lanka's final push against Tamil Tiger rebels, claims a UN report. Jonathan Miller reports.Confidential United Nations documents claim that the vast majority of the deaths were in the last few days of the fighting.

Government forces are being blamed for what has been called a "hidden massacre".

The death toll, which dwarfs official estimates, is based on evidence ranging from aerial photographs to eye witness accounts.

Aid workers who were recently in the no-fire zone have told this programme they believe the figure is "very credible".

This report contains some distressing images.