With both land and sea routes cut off and the government turning a blind eye to international calls for immediate suspension of the ongoing offensive, the LTTE would have no other option but to give in. The international community should explore the possibility of sending a message to the LTTE through the ICRC immediately as the ICRC-led civilian evacuation operation is nearing completion. The bottom line is that the LTTE leadership wouldn’t get another chance to surrender before the army overruns the Tiger-held area in the next few days.

Under a tripartite agreement negotiated among the government, the ICRC and the LTTE, the ICRC is allowed to evacuate the sick and the war wounded along with some of their relatives. The LTTE has allowed the ICRC to evacuate over 11,000 men, women and children since the launch of the operation in the second week of February this year. Initially, they were taken to the Trincomalee harbour but since the Indian government set up a medical facility at Pulmoddai, the ICRC has been moving them there. Although the evacuees had been categorized as civilians, there is no doubt that among them were wounded LTTE fighters and families of senior LTTE cadres.

This writer was in Pulmoddai last Tuesday (April 28) shortly before Green Ocean anchored about one nautical mile off the coastline. Although a group of journalists taken by the navy on a conducted tour was aware that small fibre glass dinghies were used to move people from the Green Ocean to shore, no one believed that scribes, too, had to take the same route. Believe me, there was no way one can comfortably board a dinghy from a Dvora Fast Attack Craft (FAC) due to sharp difference of the height of the vessels. Two FACs carrying journalists discharged them about one nautical mile off the coastline to fishing boats operated by Sinhala fishermen. Choppy seas made our short journey traumatic with photographers desperately trying to protect their equipment.\

Let me emphasize that the war wounded and the sick, too, are transferred in dinghies by fishermen under extremely difficult and dangerous conditions. Operating in several boats, fishermen took several hours to evacuate exhausted people under the watchful eyes of the navy.

Captain Samantha Wimalatunga, the senior officer in charge of the SLN deployment at Pulmoddai, told The Sunday Island that they had in place security measures to minimize damage and loss of life in the event one of the evacuees turned out to be suicide cadre. "Fortunately we haven’t come across a suicide cadre or anyone carrying a weapon so far," he said, adding that people brought by the ICRC were quickly directed to medical facilities after they undergo rigorous security checks.

All evacuees including children are photographed before they are moved to medical facilities in the area. One of them is run by Indian personnel. Responding to our queries, Wimalatunga, who had been decorated for commanding an Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) involved in the destruction of the LTTE’s largest vessel sunk about 2,600 km south of Dondra head in early October 2006, acknowledged that SLN personnel tasked to carry out checks do their duty at the risk of their lives. Pointing at four box shaped security posts made of sand bags on the beach, he asserted that they would minimize damage in the surrounding area if an LTTE cadre triggered a blast inside a security point.

Obviously some of the freshly bandaged war wounded persons arriving at Pulmoddai were LTTE cadres. Well built men who hadn’t faced a food shortage before being evacuated by the ICRC could be Prabhakaran’s men given the opportunity to escape before the army moved in. The LTTE, on the verge of collapse, would have taken advantage of the ICRC operation to evacuate some of its wounded and families of LTTE cadres.

Wimalatunga said that apart from people brought in by the ICRC, a large number of men, women and children had reached Pulmoddai on their own. They had come in fishing boats at the risk of their lives, he said, adding that the navy assisted hundreds of boats to reach land. He acknowledged that those who coming on their own too were being subjected to security checks. "We’ll not take a chance," he said, revealing that the navy had recovered one cyanide capsule from a woman and handed her over to the army.

A group of soldiers tasked with escorting evacuees from Pulmoddai to Padaviya said that Sinhala civilians would attack convoys if the army didn’t provide escorts. "People are aware of the presence of wounded LTTE cadres as well as Mahaveer families among the evacuees. Many families in this area have lost their bread winners in the fight against the LTTE," a soldier said. People would go on the rampage if they come across unescorted buses carrying civilians, he said.

Standing next to a locally built Unicorn armoured personnel carrier, the NCO said that they were glad major battles were coming to an end. Had Mahaveer families and LTTE cadres really believed lies propagated by the LTTE leadership and the Tamil Diaspora they would have been shocked by the treatment received at Pulmoddai. The army, too, had met the challenging task of looking after over 100,000 Tamils, he said. Responding to our queries, he said that they had imposed severe security measures to thwart people from walking out of hospitals and IDP centres.

Earlier in the day, we observed a large scale SLN deployment off the no fire zone on the north-eastern coast. Captain D. N. S. C. Kalubowila accompanying us on board an Israeli-built Shaldag Class Dvora explained the measures in place to thwart an escape bid by the LTTE. As we approached the coastline, a major fire fight erupted between the army and the LTTE. The expatriate ICRC staff on Green Ocean at that time anchored a little distance away from Farah III would have seen what is going on the ground.

Kalubowila, the commanding officer of the 4th FAC Squadron, said that over 80 craft including Offshore Patrol Craft had been deployed to neutralize any LTTE threat. The Special Boat Squadron (SBS) and the Rapid Action Boat Squadron (RABS) had been deployed closest to the LTTE-held land. The Dvoras and locally built FACs had been positioned in between the SBS-RABS and the OPVs deployed on the high seas.

There had been a spate of confrontations between the navy and Sea Tigers off the no fire zone during the past three months. Responding to questions, he said that before taking over the new assignment, he had commanded passenger ship Jetliner extensively used to move troops between Trincomalee and Kankesanthurai. He said that Sea Tigers almost succeeded in hitting Jetliner carrying well over 1,000 troops as it approached the Trincomalee harbour in the first week of August 2006.

"Had I tried to move away from land to escape explosives packed suicide craft and artillery fire, they would have most probably succeeded in their attempt. I was given an opportunity to decide and opted to go into the harbour," he said. The navy fought fiercely to save the ship, he said. Had the LTTE succeeded it would have caused irreparable damage to the war effort.

He said that the naval blockade on the no fire zone with a coastline of about six kms-three each on the either side of Farah III which had run aground in December 2006 - was evidence that the LTTE had lost the war.

The army had restricted the LTTE to a seven sq. km. area. Since my visit, the army had brought another km of coastline under its control.

Kalubowila said that with the re-opening of the A9 by the army, the navy had stopped using Jetliner to move troops. He said that the vessel was capable of carrying over 3,000 personnel. Escorting the chartered vessel had been a massive task, he said, adding that the navy had no option but to provide a very heavy FAC escort to thwart an attack. The SLAF, too, was invariably involved in measures to meet the LTTE challenge, he said.

We were transferred from Dvoras to Inshore Patrol Craft and moved to Chundikulam where the navy had established a base to direct small boat operations at the LTTE now making a desperate bid to dominate the sea close to the no fire zone. Navy spokesman Captain D. K. P. Dassanayake on a temporary assignment in the northern theatre explained the measures taken to prevent Prabhakaran from fleeing. Dassanayake is based at Chalai, the other small boat launching point involved in the operation.

He said that the LTTE had placed a 37 mm weapon on Farah III to direct fire at the navy. The SLAF had recently bombed the ship, he said, dismissing the possibility of LTTE leaders escaping in a submarine. Says Commander Northern Naval Area, Rear Admiral Somathilaka Dissanayake, ‘their so called submarines found on the ground weren’t submarines in a real sense of the word. They couldn’t submerge totally."

Dissanayake who was on an inspection tour of area said that those craft would have been built to carry out suicide attacks on SLN vessels both out at sea and anchored in harbours. He rejected the possibility of a foreign submarine or surface vessel coming to Prabhakaran’s rescue due to permanent SLN presence on the high seas.

Dissanayake, a former navy spokesman, told this reporter that the availability of high tech equipment had made things easier. "Today we have the capacity to monitor LTTE movements both on land and sea 24 hours a day. They’ll never be able to surprise us or take the initiative again," he emphasized.

The recent acquisition of Israeli-built rockets mounted on IPCs had given the navy the upper hand in sea battles. The IPCs could comfortably take fast moving enemy boats from a distance of over 3 kms. But, the SLAF remains ready to provide additional gunfire support. On May Day, the Mi 24 helicopter gunships were deployed in support of the navy. The SLAF also has shifted some jets from Katunayake to Trincomalee as part of the overall strategy to meet the LTTE threat.

To the credit of the government, it has launched a re-settlement programme as the 58 and 53 Divisions commanded by Brigadier Shavindra Silva and Major General Kamal Gunarathne fought the final battle. The first beneficiaries would be those who abandoned their villages in areas west of the A9 road. The government last week moved over 400 persons from 122 families to Savariarpuram in Mannar.