Sri Lankan troops advanced on the Tamil Tigers today and 5,000 civilians fled the shrinking war zone, signalling a military finish to Asia's longest modern war despite Western calls for a negotiated end.
With an end to Sri Lanka's 25-year separatist conflict in sight, the UN rights chief backed calls for an independent inquiry into possible war crimes and violations by both sides.
The stakes could not be higher for either side. The Tigers face destruction by overwhelming firepower and force, and Sri Lanka wants to ensure the rebels do not escape from the jaws of defeat, as they have earlier in a war that began in 1983.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said fighting forced it to temporarily halt evacuations and aid to those trapped on the Indian Ocean island's northeast coast.
"Our staff are witnessing an unimaginable humanitarian catastrophe," ICRC operations director Pierre Krahenbuhl said in a statement. "No humanitarian organisation can help them in the current circumstances. People are left to their own devices."
The military said 5,000 people escaped on Friday from the 2.5 square km held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) after 3,765 fled yesterday across a lagoon under rebel fire, some of them floating in inflated tyre tubes.
"Troops are coming along the coastal line, and closing in," military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said. "We want to rescue the civilians in 48 hours."
Pro-rebel website www.TamilNet.com reported today that "close-quarter fighting was on", quoting an unidentified rescue worker who said most civilians were hiding in bunkers.
Later, it reported that a volunteer doctor appointed by the LTTE had seen at least 800 dead bodies.
Signs the LTTE was desperate grew.
"We have heard that the LTTE is making its last calls to the diaspora, saying they expect to be killed," a diplomat in Colombo said on condition of anonymity.
The wife and children of Soosai, the nom de guerre of the Tigers' naval wing chief, were captured trying to escape in a boat carrying about $5,000 in cash, the navy said.
The two sides traded accusations over the use of banned weapons like cluster bombs and white phosphorus, with the military warning the LTTE could use the latter to slaughter civilians en masse and blame the government.
Independent confirmation of events is nearly impossible, since most outsiders are barred from the area and both sides have repeatedly distorted accounts to their advantage.
The government brushed off calls on Wednesday from the UN Security Council and US President Barack Obama to slow its offensive, while the Tigers refused to surrender and free tens of thousands of people they are holding.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa is banking on victory to win a new term and rejuvenate a $40 billion economy beset by a declining currency, low foreign exchange reserves and shrinking revenue for tea and garment exports.
Sri Lanka in March sought a $1.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan to weather the storm, which the United States again said should be used as leverage to get the government to slow the war and protect civilians.
Reuters