BEEN ENCIRCLED OUTNUMBERED AND OUTGUNNED BY SRI LANKA ARMY THE TAMIL TIGERS ARE FACING A DILEMMA TO FIGHT OR NOT

(By Walter Jayawardhana)

Having been encircled, outnumbered and outgunned by the Sri Lanka army on all sides and lost their only supply route along which they received all their logistical supplies the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leaders were facing a dilemma either to run away from their enclave , surrender or fight to their deaths.

"The troops seized Pachchapulmudai village. With this, the Tigers have lost their last road link to carry supplies and logistics to the Pudukudiyyirippu junction," an army spokesman said.


A military source said the Sri Lankan troops have cutoff their only supply route and the LTTE cadres remaining in the Pudukudiyippu area are facing a situation in which the LTTE had never faced in their entire history.

According to the military sources the LTTE is surrounded in a narrow sliver of land not exceeding 1 square mile. It was in the same area the army said a day previously that the son of the LTTE leader Charles Anthony was injured with gunshot injuries. Charles Anthony is a commander in the rebel force.

The New York Times said LTTE leader could already be dead or not and carrying on the movement of LTTE could be made much easier only if he is alive.

The Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka addressing a SLFP representatives meeting from his electorate said, if not for the civilians , the army could have finished off the remaining LTTE cadres in 30 minutes.

He added, "The Government can finish off terrorism completely within half an hour if it acted in an inhuman manner. Driving out terrorists (LTTE) from a very small bastion in the north has been time consuming because the Government is acting most humanely considering the safety of civilians held by LTTE as a human shield."