Over 80 pc of war against LTTE complete - Army Chief

Ranil Wijayapala in Saliyapura, Anuradhapura

Anuradhapura: As troops reached just seven Kilometres south of Kilali lagoon which separates the Jaffna peninsula from the mainland, Army Commander Lt. General Sarath Fonseka yesterday declared that over 80 per cent of the war against the LTTE has been completed after regaining 80 per cent of the areas under them and killing over 12,000 of their cadres.

Addressing the media in Saliyapura, Anuradhapura after participating at a ceremony to mark the Silver Jubilee of the Gajaba Regiment pioneered by late Major General Wijeya Wimalaratne, the Army Commander said he can confidently say that over 80 per cent of the war has been completed by the troops.

Lt. General Sarath Fonseka

“We are sure that we will be able to see an end to this war soon though we cannot give deadlines to reach this task,” the Army Commander said.

The Army Commander also said that he is confident that he can complete the task of defeating the LTTE during his tenure as he promised earlier.

“With these gains, we will soon be able to open a land route to Jaffna,” the Commander said.

“At the inception of the war they did not have a 12,000 strength but we are confident that 12,000 of their cadres were killed during the past two and half years as they recruited a large number of cadres to the outfit to strengthen their depleting ranks”, the Army Commander said.

The Tiger bodies captured by the troops within the past few weeks very clearly indicate that they are deploying their police, political cadres and intelligence cadres to confront the advancing troops. He said though Kilinochchi was the main focus of the ground troops, they have marched more than 10 Km north of Kilinochchi from the Western front of Kilinochchi.

“With the newly formed Task Force III starting its operations from yesterday in the North

of Mankulam, troops are poised to march from the West to the East in four fronts to capture Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu”, he added.

He said though the areas from Omanthai to Mankulam has not been taken under troops control, these areas are very much under the control of troops as Special Forces and Commando troops are controlling these areas.

“The areas in south of Mankulam to Weli Oya is under troops control as only a handful of Tiger cadres are operating in this area. We have destroyed all their strongholds there and according to our reports only five Tiger cadres are operating in the Omanthai entry exit point”, the Army Commander said.