The entire Puthukudiyiruppu township and Iranapalai area came under Security Forces control last evening with 58 Division troops and 53 Division troops surrounding the last terrain controlled by the LTTE in the North East of Puthukudiyiruppu after capturing Pachchapulmudai junction the last supply route connected to the No Fire Zone from the mainland under 58 Division troops control. That's the last bit of territory outside the NFZ - Tigers hiding among civilians is the only place they can be.
A senior military official told the Daily News that fierce fighting raged North East of Puthukudiyiruppu as 58 Division and 53 Division troops surrounded the last square kilometer stretch under LTTE after 58 Division advanced from the North to South and 53 Division moved in a south to north direction. Igo south, ugo north, sounds pretty typical to me.
The troops of the 11 Sri Lanka Light Infantry Regiment attached to the 58 Division under the command of Brigadier Shavendra Silva and the 5 Vijayaba Infantry Regiment attached to the 53 Division under the command of Major General Kamal Gunaratne linked up, south of Pachchapulmudai junction encircling hundreds of Tiger cadres inside.
We believe that more than 200 Tiger cadres were trapped inside this terrain and troops are conducting search operations in search of them, the official added. Did you check under the couch cushions?
Fierce battles are expected to rage in this terrain as possibilities are high for the LTTE to launch counter attacks to rescue the Tiger cadres trapped inside, officials added. The 58 Division troops took control of Pachchapulmudai junction on the Puthukudiyiruppu Ampalavanpokkanai Road the last supply route linked to the No Fire Zone after a fierce battle with the LTTE. The LTTE used this supply route to send reinforcements to the Puthukudiyiruppu area through the lagoon that separates the No Fire Zone from the mainland. Bottom line, Tigers have lost their last little bit of land, and gotten some of their men stuck on the other side. Now, they only have the territory in the no-fire zone.
Earlier the 58 Division troops captured and cut off the Puthukudiyiruppu-Puthumattalan road and another road leading to Ampalavanpokkanai from the North of Iranapalai.
The Task Force 8 troops operating under the command of Colonel G.V. Ravipriya cut off the links the LTTE had to Puthukudiyiruppu through the A-35 road.
During the search operations conducted in the area yesterday the 58 Division troops found 19 bodies of Tiger cadres along with their personal weapons and large stocks of arms and ammunition and vehicles left behind by the fleeing cadres.
The 53 Division troops also found13 bodies of Tiger cadres, eight personal weapons and other military equipment belonging to the LTTE during the search operations conducted yesterday.
With these moves by the 58 and 53 Divisions the LTTE has been confined to the No Fire Zone alone with thousands of civilian detained by them.
The 55 Division under the command of Brigadier Prasanna Silva is also heading towards the northern edge of the No Fire Zone after capturing the fifth earth bund created by the LTTE.
Troops on the Vanni liberation operation are now at its most decisive phase as they are poised to rescue the civilians trapped inside the No Fire Zone, a military official added.
[Bangla Daily Star] The LTTE's technical wing chief was among 39 Tamil Tigers killed in intense fighting in the island's northern combat zone where Sri Lankan troops backed by fighter jets battled to seize the last few pockets of the guerrillas, the military said yesterday.
S Kirupakaran alias Madivalahan, said to be the mastermind and chief coordinator of the LTTE's satellite-cum- radio communication network, was killed during clashes with security forces at the Mullaittivu battlefront recently, the Defence Ministry said citing intercepted LTTE communication.
It said according to information, LTTE yesterday offered self-styled 'Lt Colonel' status to the slain rebel leader.
Madivalahan was born in Jaffna and has reportedly spent most of his time at Trincomalee before joining the LTTE as a full-time activist, the Ministry said. "This is what to be expected in the coming days as more senior Tigers will be exposed to direct military attacks," it quoted a defence observer as saying, adding that the loss of Madivalahan was a major setback for the rebel outfit.
The government today also said that LTTE supremo V Prabhakaran's son Charles Anthony has been injured in clashes with the security forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2009 00:00 ||
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[Mail and Globe] More than 23 000 civilians escaped last month from a war zone in Sri Lanka's north, where the military appears close to crushing the Tamil Tiger rebels, the government said on Wednesday. That doesn't bode well for next year's NGO funding. Someone somewhere is trying to think of a good reason they should go back.
Tens of thousands of civilians have been trapped by the fighting as the military has rolled up a series of battlefield victories and pushed the rebels into a small sliver of beach and land -- measuring just 21 square kilometres -- on the northeast coast. That's only slightly larger than Prabhakaran's own acreage.
The 23 606 who fled in March was down from the nearly 33 000 who escaped in February, but the fighting last month was confined to a smaller area and it was not as easy to flee. Maybe there weren't as many people, too.
The rebels, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), have denied accusations that they are holding the people as human shields and have fired on them to stop them from fleeing. "No, no! Certainly not!"
Military spokesperson Udaya Nanayakkara told a news conference that the fighting in some cases was just 400m from the edge of a government-declared "no-fire" zone, which takes up most of the war zone. "Troops are operating close to the safe zone," he told a news conference. Nanayakkara said more than 62 000 people have now fled the fighting.
Defence spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella estimated there were 30 000 to 40 000 civilians still trapped in the area. Rambukwella repeated comments by President Mahinda Rajapaksa rejecting calls for a ceasefire, saying it would give the rebels a chance to rearm and regroup. "It is not something that is possible," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
There's an object lesson in the Sri Lanka fighting, if Barry weren't too dense to learn it.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/02/2009 20:25 Comments ||
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#2
"More than 23,000 civilians escaped last month from a war zone in Sri Lanka's north"
How many of them were Tigers in mufti? 22,501?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/02/2009 21:14 Comments ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] The LTTE's technical wing chief was among 39 Tamil Tigers killed in intense fighting in the island's northern combat zone where Sri Lankan troops backed by fighter jets battled to seize the last few pockets of the guerrillas, the military said yesterday.
[Mail and Globe] More than 23 000 civilians escaped last month from a war zone in Sri Lanka's north, where the military appears close to crushing the Tamil Tiger rebels, the government said on Wednesday. 
