The Hindu Business Line : LTTE would be stamped out within 48 hours: Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: As thousands of trapped civilians continued to flee the war zone, the Sri Lankan government on Friday said the LTTE would be stamped out within the next 48 hours, signalling that a final offensive against the Tiger was on.

“President Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa has vowed that within the next 48 hours, thousands of Tamil civilians will be freed from the clutches of the Tamil Tigers,” a government spokesman said.

He said the President has also assured “all territory would be freed from the Tamil Tigers' control”.

Mr Rajapaksa's comments came as on the battle-front Sri Lankan forces pushed back the Tigers confining them to 1.5 sq km area by last night.

The Sri Lankan army has massed 20,000-25,000 troops for the final onslaught and these forces have encircled estimated 1,200 - 1,500 remnants of the Tamil Tigers.

Over 5,500 Tamil civilians have moved out of the fast shrinking LTTE-control areas as a military spokesman said that forces were bracing thousands more.

According to UN estimates, 50,000 civilians still remain trapped in the no-fire zone and any sharp dwindling in their strength could give Sri Lankan forces more room to crush the Tigers, who have lost much of their fire power.

The reports that a final push was on came even as international pressure mounted on Colombo to call for a truce. The UN chief, Mr Ban Ki-Moon warned that a human catastrophe could be on inside the rebel-held zone and rushed his Chef de Cabinet, Mr Vijay Nambiar to Colombo to stop the fighting. - PTI

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