Click to play videoNew Delhi/Colombo: A luxurious 50-ft bunker in the heart of Wanni jungles is where LTTE chief Prabhakaran was said to be hiding in a bunker for months before fleeing. The bunker was equipped with every possible modern facility, has tiled floors, furnished compartments, CCTV cameras, an oxygen plant and a deep freezer.
Prabhakaran's Marks and Spencer's shirt and his M-16 machine gun were also found in his room. The army says it is within striking distance of the elusive LTTE chief and what Rajapkse calls final elimination of terror..
Says Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara, “The kind of facilities provided to Prabhakaran is not a surprise to us. Prabhakaran is not a person who will stick on to one place, if he has not fled then he has to be in the area. We hope to meet him soon”.
But equally striking are the images of those caught in the battle zone. The pictures were captured by independent observers of the hospital that was hit by shells four times in two days.
The Army says it has launched an operation to free civilians from the LTTE hold but cannot guarantee their safety.
“How can we save the hospitals? We have stopped firing in the area,” says army officials Gothabaya Rajapakse.
Now that the war has officially entered its final phase, the civilians trapped in cross fire are hoping for an end to the 26-year-old conflict that has already claimed tens of thousands of lives.
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