LTTE suffers heavy damage :

More Tiger defences fall in Kilinochchi

KILINOCHCHI: The Army yesterday intensified its thrust on Kilinochchi, marching towards the city from three frontiers and smashing many defences including several points of an earth bund constructed by the LTTE , the Defence Ministry said.

One of the columns was marching on Kilinochchi from the southern flank and heavy fighting raged along the main A-9 highway that runs through the six-kilometre (four-mile) length of the town, the Ministry said.

Troops were engaged with the Tigers in the Therumurikandi, 10 kilometres south of the town centre. Troops of the 57 Division engaged a number of terrorist targets in the outskirts of Kilinochchi.

Heavy fighting erupted during the wee hours yesterday when the troops of 12 Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment and 9 Gajaba Regiment launched a pre-dawn attack on terrorists in Adampan, 7.5 km west of Kilinochchi.

Troops in the meantime smashing terrorist strong points in Pudumurippukulam west of Kilinochchi, fought a fierce battle with the terrorists who withdrew further north. Eight and 10 Sri Lanka Light Infantry troops advancing towards Murukkandy junction along the Akkarayankukam road were also able to dominate a road stretch more than 1 km by yesterday.

Army Task Force 1 launched a predawn offensive targeting LTTE defence in the North of Admapan area. Infantrymen of 17 Gamunu Watch (17 GW), 12 Gajaba Regiment (12 GR), and 8 Sinha Regiment (8 SR) have been able to capture LTTE strongholds on the earth bund at three locations after crushing stiff resistance. Troops are now consolidating their positions. Intercepted radio transmissions have confirmed heavy damages to the Tigers.

Meanwhile, troops of the 59 Division operating on the Mullaitivu battlefront also continued their forward dominations into the LTTE held areas.

The long drawn out civil war in Sri Lanka has reached a crucial phase with reports of the fighting spirit of the Tamil Tigers said to be at an “all time low” after the fall of two of their strongholds even as troops march in on the rebels’ political capital Kilinochchi, IANS reported yesterday.

Retired navy commander and chief of defence staff (CDS) Admiral Daya Sandagiri said the capture of Pooneryn “has virtually neutralized the LTTE threat to the troops stationed in the Jaffna peninsula while the capture of Mankulam has mounted pressure on the LTTE.

“The capture of Pooneryn has now given the military the necessary land route access to Jaffna. Such a land route is vital for ongoing military operation in terms of logistic supply and casualty evacuation,” Admiral Sandagiri told IANS.

Citing battlefront reports, he said the fighting spirit among the LTTE cadres after the fall of Pooneryn and Mankulam “was at an all-time low, affecting their fighting morale and efficiency”.

According to Admiral Sandagiri, LTTE chief “(Velupillai) Prabhakaran believes in fighting, nothing but fighting. He cannot deviate from his original stand. The LTTE is still left with some striking capabilities, but such capabilities are badly insufficient to halt or reverse the current military successes and progresses”.

According to analysts, losing their strategic strongholds of Pooneryn in the western coast and Mankulam in southern end of areas under its control nearly after a decade has been a major blow to the LTTE, although they have moved their military resources, including heavy weapons, to other locations.

Mankulam is located on the highway that connects the Sri Lankan mainland to Jaffna in the island’s northern tip. Pooneryn is the last major LTTE naval point on the western coastal belt, from where the Tigers in the past have used their long-range artillery and mortar guns to fire at military targets in Jaffna peninsula.

After gaining control of the entire western coastal belt of over 80 km from the northwestern district of Mannar up to Pooneryn, the troops, backed by artillery and aerial bombardment, are now trying to advance towards Kilinochchi town, 350 km north of here, from various directions, despite heavy LTTE resistance and the monsoon showers.

The LTTE is facing a critical situation militarily at a time when it is preparing to commemorate its fallen cadres in the third week of November.

The week-long event ends with an annual speech by LTTE leader Prabhakaran, who will turn 54 Nov 26. His speech, usually setting out the outfit’s plans for the next year, largely carries political significance and is closely monitored locally and internationally.

Commenting on the LTTE’s fighting capability, Dharmalingham Siddharthan, the head of the ex-militant People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), said that it was “very difficult to judge the LTTE’s fighting ability at a time like this”.

“Still I believe that they have about 3,000 battle-hardened cadres. One cannot expect them to give up so easily, although the fall of Kilinochchi, their political capital, is very imminent. It could even happen before Prabhakaran’s 54th birthday,” former MP Siddharathan told IANS.