Lanka crisis -- IAF planes put on high alert at Thiruvananthapuram
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MAY 5: The Southern Air Command headquarters here has been put on high alert by the Government to rush humanitarian assistance to Jaffna in Sri Lanka, where 35,000 Government forces are virtually trapped by LTTE following the fall of Elephant Pass, it is learnt.

Communication links have been established with hotline facility 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 planes flew in around midnight on Thursday from Bhoj, unloaded medicines and other emergency relief items and returned. One AN-32 and one helicopter also arrived at the IAF airstrip today.

The alert assumes importance in the wake of Defence Minister Jaswant Singh's disclosure on Thursday that there was ``some request'' from Sri Lanka for help.

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