By C. Bryson Hull
(Reuters) - Sri Lankan troops kept the heat on the Tamil Tiger separatists on Monday, a day after seizing the last big town held by the rebels, Mullaittivu.
The army's commander, Lieutenant-General Sarath Fonseka, has said the military is close to ending one of Asia's longest-running wars. Few would disagree now that he has the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) all but encircled.
Here are some scenarios of what could happen next:
FONSEKA'S MARCH TO THE SEA:
This month alone, soldiers have run the Tigers out of their self-proclaimed capital Kilinochchi, the Jaffna Peninsula and now the port of Mullaittivu, a major LTTE operations base.
When hostilities were reignited in August 2006, the rebels held 15,000 square km (5,792 sq miles). Now, Fonseka says they have only 300 square km (186 square miles) of jungle and a diminishing stretch of the northeastern coast.
Much as U.S. civil war Major-General William Tecumseh Sherman made the rebel Confederate army surrender by forcing them to all but jump in the sea at Savannah, Georgia, Fonseka is doing the same -- unless his troops seize the coast and surround the LTTE.
Since the Tigers wear vials of cyanide around their necks in case of capture, surrender seems unlikely.
ARE THE TIGERS NOW TOOTHLESS?
Many analysts say the rebels are down to about 2,000 capable fighters and have little future as a conventional force.
The military is now much better equipped and trained than in the past, has President Mahinda Rajapaksa's full backing and experienced, confident leadership in the form of his brother, Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and Fonseka.
The LTTE still can carry out suicide bombings in the capital Colombo, and is blamed for one Just after Kilinochchi fell.
Fonseka has said he expects the hardest-core Tigers to go underground and conduct hit-and-run attacks once the war nears its end. He also said the army was ready to counter that.
WHAT ABOUT CIVILIANS IN THE WAR ZONE?
Aid agencies estimate there are about 230,000 Tamil refugees in the shrinking war zone. A government official who was in Mullaittivu said at least 100 were killed in artillery exchanges last week. Pro-LTTE web sites continually report more casualties. Continued...
A Tamil Tigers car with soldiers in 2004. 
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, otherwise known as the Tamil Tigers, have told the BBC that they are prepared to fight back against Sri Lankan forces.

The vow follows reports that Sri Lankan forces are laying siege to the last rebel-held areas of the island. The Sri Lankan army have said that the "final battle" was underway and predicted that the Tamil rebellion is finished. There have been rumours that Velupillai Prabhakaran, the Tigers' leader since the conflict began, had fled in the face of the assault. But political leader B Nadesan denied this, telling the BBC that the claim was "malicious propaganda".

According to Reuters, analysts say that around 2,000 Tiger fighters remain in the face of the 50,000-strong government push into the north, which began in August 2006. Government forces captured Mullaitivu, the last stronghold of the Tigers, on Sunday. The Associated Press says that Tigers have been preventing civilians from leaving the war zone, with the government accusing them of using civilians as human shields. In turn, the government has declared a section of the territory to be a safe area for civilians but there have been reports of artillery fire and the United Nations say troops have been fighting in the area.

Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka of the Sri Lankan army was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying "the end of terrorism is near and we will definitely win". Meanwhile aid agencies say 230,000 Tamil refugees are in the remaining battle zone. The Associated Press say that the area is densely populated and diplomats have expressed concern about the use of ground troops in the area. Most journalists are forbidden from entering the war zone, making confirmation difficult.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa won the 2005 election on a hard-line ticket, ruling out autonomy for the Tamil north and east. This led to an increase in the war and the eventual abandonment of a Norwegian-mediated ceasefire at the start of last year.