With all their escape routs blocked by the Sri Lankan troops, the senior LTTE rebels are planning for a mass suicide attempt, the Defence Ministry said today citing intercepted LTTE communications. The remaining LTTE rebels including their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran are now holed up in a 3.5 square kilometer pocket in the new no-fire zone. "They have no other option but to surrender to the security forces or to be crushed in the military advance," a military official said. Army's 58 and 59 Divisions advancing from opposite directions along the coast of the no-fire zone linked up at the village of Vellamullivaikkal this morning effectively sealing of the coastal area and cutting off access for the rebels to escape from sea. The rebels are detonating large stocks of their explosive and ammunition dumps within the remaining rebel area of the no-fire zone, the military said. Meanwhile the offensive has opened up more escape routes for the entrapped civilians to flee to the government controlled areas. So far over 16,000 civilians have escaped from the LTTE and arrived in government controlled areas over the past two and a half days, the military confirmed. The government said at the moment, 10,500 civilians have arrived at the Omanthai Entry/ Exit point and soon will be directed to the welfare centers in Vavuniya adding that the military with the assistance of the government officials are providing the civilians with necessary relief services immediately upon their arrival. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa who is on a two-day official visit to Jordan to participate at the G-11 summit is expected to cut his visit short and return to the country. He was informed of the latest military victory by the Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa over the phone. The President is expected to make a televised announcement upon his return on Saturday night President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is scheduled to return to Sri Lanka from Jordan on Sunday, is expected to declare victory