ABSTRACT
The antics of the rebel air force showed the vulnerability of Sri Lankan air space to unconventional intrusions. As the rebel-controlled territory shrank, the government searched for ways to separate the Tiger cadres from the civilians. The civilian exodus from Kilinochchi was a repetition of what had been happening in the Wanni since the beginning of the army's drive to capture the rebel's last stronghold. The army was advancing on a wide front, not just prodding the Wanni in one corner or trying to cut through it, and it was bent on capturing and occupying all of the Wanni permanently. The loss of aircraft in particular was a severe blow as air power played a crucial role in the advance into the Wanni. Hundreds of thousands of hapless men, women and children, mainly Tamils from the North and the East, had become refugees in their own country during the different phases of the Ealam War.
