A senior western diplomat has warned that living conditions are deteriorating for tens of thousands of civilians displaced inside Tamil Tiger-held areas in northern
It is a humanitarian disaster waiting to happen, he says.
"We have one of the biggest humanitarian problems emerging in the north at the moment. Unfortunately it's not attracting enough international attention," the diplomat, who's familiar with the Sri Lankan situation, told the BBC.
Sri Lankan security forces are carrying out a multi-pronged offensive against Tamil Tigers in the north and some army units are reported to be very close to the town of
The United Nations says more than 200,000 people have been displaced in the latest round of fighting and they have been moving from place to place inside Tamil Tiger-controlled areas.
With the army capturing more and more territory from the LTTE, the civilians have now been confined to a smaller region.
Sooner or later hostilities are expected to break out in areas not very far from them. Some fear that they might get caught in the crossfire.
The diplomat, who didn't want to be identified, said Western governments had lost interest in
With the international community showing little interest in the Sri Lankan conflict, the Tamil Tigers now appear to have turned towards their supporters and political parties in neighbouring
Pro-LTTE political parties and some fringe groups in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu have been holding protest rallies against the Sri Lankan army offensive claiming many Tamil civilians are being killed in the conflict.
Sri Lankan officials deny the charges, saying they are only targeting the Tiger fighters.
Tamil Nadu is home to more than 60 million Tamils, who share close linguistic and cultural ties with the Tamils in
Most of the major political parties from Tamil Nadu have warned that their lawmakers will quit the Indian parliament if
If the threats were carried out they could trigger a political crisis in
But these protests are viewed by some as an attempt by the pro-LTTE groups to try to protect the Tamil Tigers, who appear to have been cornered by the Sri Lankan security forces in recent months.
However, it actively backed the Norwegian-led peace process, which was officially called off early this year.
Officially,
If
So the protests in Tamil Nadu may not result in a major shift in
"The Tigers seemed to have made a miscalculation on when and how
The Sri Lankan military would also stoutly oppose any move to stop the offensive which seems to be going in their favour.
Analysts say the military's numerical superiority, stronger firepower and better military strategy have helped them to push rapidly deep inside LTTE-held territory in recent months.
But their progress has been slow in recent weeks due to stiff resistance from the Tigers.
Many military observers agree that if the present trend continues then the army will capture Kilinochchi sooner or later.
If the army achieves its objectives, then the Tigers would be confined mostly to the Mullaitivu region.
Now the fear among the Tamils is if the LTTE are weakened then the government may not show interest in devolving powers to Tamil areas.
"There is a danger that there will be little pressure on the Sri Lankan government to devolve powers to Tamil regions if the Tigers lose the war," says Sri Lankan analyst DBS Jeyaraj.
However, he argues that the fall of Kilinochchi may not be the end of the LTTE as most of their weapons and cadres are still intact and they may be gearing up for a long, drawn-out guerrilla war.
