November 12,2008: The army advance is still moving along the coast, where the monsoon rains are less of a problem. Troops are seven kilometers from opening a land link to the Jaffna peninsula (2,300 square kilometers of territory at the northern tip of the island, cut off from the rest of the island by LTTE controlled territory to the south, forcing the government, for the last 13 years, to use ships to supply the half million people in Jaffna.)  

India has renewed its ban on the LTTE for another two years. So far, 30 nations have banned the LTTE, usually as a terrorist organization. But in the complex world of Indian politics, the LTTE still has allies. Some politicians from south India (especially Tamil Nadu, the ancestral home of the LTTE rebels) are particularly eager to condemn Sri Lanka for killing, or at least "not respecting" Sri Lankan Tamil civilians caught in the crossfire. The LTTE has been trying to use this Indian political support to force the Sri Lankan government to accept a ceasefire. But the Sri Lankans demand that the LTTE disarm first, and the LTTE won't do that. The LTTE wants a ceasefire so they can rebuild their army, and develop new guerilla and terror tactics to regain lost territory. The Sri Lankan government is determined to crush the LTTE army short term, and deal with the LTTE terrorists in the long term.

In northern Sri Lanka, the LTTE is conscripting all males aged 12-50 for military training, and to form a reserve for the several thousand active duty fighters who are facing the army along the front lines. To avoid military service, and certain death, more Tamil civilians are trying to flee LTTE controlled territory. This is not easy to do, because of the LTTE control over the fishing villages (and the boats there), as well as all the LTTE gunmen manning the front lines on land.

November 11, 2008: Troops advancing along the northwest coast have captured the LTTE held fishing village of Palavi. Further inland, troops are still stalled several kilometers from the LTTE capital of Kilinochchi.

November 7, 2008: Police arrested three Tamil men in the capital, and found that they were trained up north by the LTTE, to collect information on security arrangements around the capital. This was in preparation for more terror attacks. The LTTE is also believed to be using women and children to transport bombs, to avoid being searched by police. In the past, about 30 percent of LTTE suicide bombers have been women. The LTTE is rebuilding its guerilla and terrorist forces among the Tamil population along the eastern coast of the island. There may be as many as a hundred LTTE activists there now, and many of them are armed and shooting at security personnel and pro-government Tamil officials.