Sri Lanka Army launches final attack despite trapped civies.

[frigidmagi]

Time.uk

[quote]Sri Lanka declared yesterday that it was on the verge of crushing the Tamil Tiger rebels but warned the 250,000 civilians trapped on the front line that it could not guarantee their safety.

The stark message came as the Red Cross reported that artillery shells had killed at least nine patients at a hospital in the corner of northeastern Sri Lanka where the army has pinned down the Tigers.

There has been an international outcry, led by the Red Cross, over civilian casualties and alleged abuses by both sides in the conflict zone. President Rajapaksa said that the army was on the brink of defeating the Tigers, ending a 25-year civil war - Asia’s longest-running - that has claimed 70,000 lives.

In a message to mark Independence Day tomorrow, Mr Rajapaksa said that the army would soon bring about “the final elimination of terror from our motherland and the dawn of true freedom to all our peopleâ€