Southern Air Command on alert as DMK gives elbow room to Govt

THIRUVANATHAPURAM/NEW DELHI, MAY 6: The Southern Air Command headquarters here is said to have been put on high alert by the Government to...

THIRUVANATHAPURAM/NEW DELHI, MAY 6: The Southern Air Command headquarters here is said to have been put on high alert by the Government to rush "humanitarian assistance" to Jaffna in Sri Lanka where 35,000 (Sri Lankan) Government forces are virtually trapped by the LTTE rebels following the fall of Elephant Pass.

Communication links have been established with hotline facilities to the Indian High Commissioner’s office in Colombo and military headquarters in Delhi and also with the air command here.

Two IAF IL-76 transport aircraft flew in around midnight on Thursday from Bhuj, unloaded medicines and other emergency relief items and returned. One AN-32 and one helicopter also arrived at the IAF airstrip on Friday.

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The alert assumes significance in the wake of Defence Minister George Fernandes’s statement in Chandigarh that there were "some requests" from Sri Lanka for help. When asked about the nature of humanitarian assistance, Fernandes was quoted as saying, "Medicines." "Nobody has asked us for any military support," he said and later added, "However, we are fully prepared to face any eventuality as far as the country’s security is concerned."

Sources in Air Headquarters declined to comment on the state of alert but insisted there was "no question of sending any military assistance or hardware" to Colombo.

"We have clear instructions from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) that there has to be no military intervention. And we don’t want the LTTE targeting our aircraft unnecessarily," said an official. The move is also significant as the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Air Chief Marshal Anil Yashwant Tipnis is scheduled to leave for Colombo on a four-day-long official visit.

"As for being ready, the IAF is ready for action at four-hours-notice. There is nothing as yet except readying medical supplies and treating casualties," sources said.

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"But then again, Tipnis’s visit was decided much in advance. Nothing was known about the fall of Elephant Pass and the siege on Jaffna at that time. Unless the Sri Lankan Government says don’t come, the situation is bad, there is no change in his plans. It has nothing to do with air support to Sri Lanka. There is no question of that," sources added.