The civilian death toll during the final days of Sri Lanka’s civil war was between 3,000 and 5,000, a senior government official estimated Thursday.

Rajiva Wijesinha, permanent secretary in Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, told a British newspaper, The Guardian, that earlier reports of many as 20,000 civilians being killed in the end stages of the years-long Tamil Tigers uprising were unverified and wrong.

“I would estimate it altogether at 3,000 to 5,000,” Wijesinha said, blaming the deaths on the rebels’ use of refugees as human shields. “The Tigers had prepared this hostage situation and the figures went up very badly.”

The United Nations and other countries had accused Sri Lanka of using heavy weaponry against the remaining rebels cornered in a “no-fire zone” along with civilians. Wijesinha said 81mm mortars were used against the Tigers, who he said were firing heavy weapons, including tanks, at the government forces.

Sri Lankan civilian toll said up to 5,000