The Tamil Tigers appear to be finished as Sri Lankan government troops close in on rebel fighters trapped in a small area on the northeastern coast. But it is Sri Lanka's civilian population that has suffered most during the decades-long civil war. A group of soldiers at the Palali air base on the northern tip of Sri Lanka is waiting for an Antonov aircraft to arrive from Colombo. All transportation links to the capital were cut off for years. Now the first journalists are being allowed to visit the region, which has been liberated by government forces. After more than a quarter century of civil war, the separatist movement that has controlled the region for so long, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), has been expelled, at least from its strongholds.
The Tamil Tigers appear to be finished as Sri Lankan government troops close in on rebel fighters trapped in a small area on the northeastern coast. But it is Sri Lanka's civilian population that has suffered most during the decades-long civil war.
A group of soldiers at the Palali air base on the northern tip of Sri Lanka is waiting for an Antonov aircraft to arrive from Colombo. All transportation links to the capital were cut off for years. Now the first journalists are being allowed to visit the region, which has been liberated by government forces.
After more than a quarter century of civil war, the separatist movement that has controlled the region for so long, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), has been expelled, at least from its strongholds.
