As Sri Lanka's government fetes the capture of vast swathes of rebel territory in the island's east, observers warn a two-decade civil war -- and the humanitarian crisis it creates -- will grind on.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government has vowed to hold local government elections in the east by the year-end and officials say they will then try to win hearts and minds by rapidly developing the impoverished region.
After losing its grip in the east, the Tigers say they now will attack major economic and military targets in a bid to cripple the $23 billion economy and restore what they call the balance of power.
With the focus shifting to the north, tens of thousands more civilians have been forced to flee homes, swelling the hundreds of thousands already displaced across the island by the conflict.
The military last week said it had captured the jungle area of Thoppigala after months of fighting, leaving the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) without any eastern territory for the first time since the 1990s.
"But it doesn't feel as if it's over," said one Western aid worker. "Quite the opposite, in fact."
The Tigers still hold territory in the north that they run as a de facto state and where they have effectively been besieging the government-held northern Jaffna peninsula since August.
"The government has gained territory militarily but the rebel military machine is still intact," said Jane's defence analyst Iqbal Athas. "What the LTTE did was offer resistance and then withdraw."
The military is blocking shipments of cement, steel, fuel and other items from reaching Tiger territory, forcing aid groups to shelve post-tsunami housing projects as well as plans to build schools and hospitals.
But essential supplies are reaching most of those in need, at least for now.
