Sept 07, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said the road forward is hard but remains convinced that the military victory is certain.

In an interview to a local Sinhala newspaper Rajapaksa said the progress made in the battle filed had been a little faster than originally planned. “We are moving forward in accordance with those plans,” he was quoted.

Commenting on the internally displaced people and hardships that civilians suffered in the war zone, the Defence Secretary said that when Jaffna was liberated the same situation prevailed and the numbers involved in the North, at about 400,000, was more than twice the number in the Vanni.

“This is not a new thing for us. We tackled this problem successfully in the East too. We quickly re-settled the displaced people in the East and we can do the same in the Vanni too. While the war is being fought we can provide the displaced with the necessary food and shelter,” he has said.

Secretary Rajapaksa also said that the media has a duty to correctly explain the situation instead of going along a path that suits the LTTE's objectives.

“When we closed Muhamalai it was alleged that people will die of hunger and there were persistent demands that this entry point be opened. We knew that the LTTE needed Muhamalai open for trafficking in arms and bombs to and from the North.”

“We did not permit that despite pressure to open that entry point on humanitarian grounds. However, we provided the goods and services that the people of the north needed. This is what we will do in this instance too,” he added.