Thoppigala victory severe blow to LTTE terrorism

Govt will ensure rights of Easterners, Local Elections soon

Nadira Gunatilleke and Manjula Fernando

COLOMBO: The Government and the Armed Forces have recorded a historic win by taking full control of the Eastern Province after 20 years under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and this massive victory should not be underestimated on any grounds, Information and Media Minister and Cabinet Spokesman Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said yesterday.

Minister Yapa said it is regrettable that only Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has interpreted it as `capturing a jungle'.

Yapa said this victory is one of the best over LTTE terrorism and arrangements will be made to ensure the rights of Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim people. So far they were deprived of their basic human rights under LTTE control. Arrangements will be made soon to conduct Provincial Elections and Local Government Elections in the Eastern Province.

He said that whenever a country fights a common enemy all the parties come together and support the leader. "When the US Government decided to fight against Iraq all political parties supported the President without any difference. Its a fight to safeguard the country's dignity. If someone acts differently it can be named as an `extreme political hypocrisy'.

"Now the UNP has descended to very low standards, desperately trying to capture power and doing certain extreme things such as displaying dancing puppets in their meetings. They ridicule the leader of the country showing their desperation. But the Government will victoriously walk forward."

Military Spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe said the Thoppigala victory, with zero civilian losses and lowest casualties in the military despite being one of the country's biggest operations should not be undermined by the Opposition.

"Thoppigala was the LTTE's main Eastern Headquarters. This was the first time it fell to the military. Without the capture of Thoppigala, clearing the East would not have been meaningful." Calling it their main training base that also integrated abducted child soldiers, Brigadier said they found hospitals, training bases, torture chambers and cells in the camps inside the forest.

"The LTTE also calls their defeat a temporary withdrawal. Will they abandon their artillery guns and multi barrel rocket launches if it was a temporary withdrawal?," he questioned.

The LTTE planned and carried out its attacks on Eastern civilian villages and the military from within this headquarters.

He said despite malicious propaganda instigated and disseminated by the LTTE through international and local media that civilians and hospitals are being targeted by the military the forces advancement was cautious. It was proved later that these allegations were false.

"Everyone saw not even a roof tile of Vakarai hospital was damaged in the liberation operation," Brigadier Samarasinghe said.

Despite clearing operations, he said, there may be isolated incidents and occasional explosions. This has to be expected when dealing with a ruthless terrorist outfit like the LTTE. It was also termed by the British as the second most brutal terrorist organisation in the world after al-Queda.

Military captured some 35 main camps in and around Thoppigala in the clearing operation.

These camps fell for the first time since the nearly three decades old North East conflict began.