COLOMBO, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Relief items shipped by the Indian government for Sri Lanka's battle displaced civilians in the Island's north have been finally dispatched to the region, officials said Monday.

    About 50-lorry loads of food items left the northern town of Vavuniya for the rebel controlled Kilinochchi and Mullaittivu districts in the morning, officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said.

    They said the lorries have crossed into the rebel-held areas but they are not sure whether they have reached the destinations.

    The items which arrived on Nov. 16 had remained in warehouses near the capital Colombo for two weeks.

    The 1,700-ton Indian consignment of food, clothing and personal hygiene items, packed into 80,000 family packs, were put under the charge of the ICRC.

    The goods were sent by the Indians as a result of mounting pressure from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu which claimed the civilians trapped in the fighting between government troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been left without basic needs.

    Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse's special envoy and brother Basil Rajapakse visited India late October to ally Indian concerns on the plight of the civilians.

    The troops now say they would crush the rebel presence in the north soon, ending over three decades of armed insurgency to create a separate homeland for minority Tamils.