War takes heavy toll on LTTE, Army
The military yesterday said that
operations in the north were continuing
and said that at least 24 Tigers had
been killed in confrontations north west
of Vavuniya between September 5 and 6
morning while the LTTE claimed 85
soldiers were killed and 240 injured
last week.
Army sources said that heavy fighting
had broken out between troops from the
56th Division and Tigers in
the Palamoddai area west of Omanthai on
Friday. The clash had erupted in the
Thalaikulam area, north of Palamoddai
proper and 14
Tigers had been killed.
“Troops recovered six dead bodies of
Tiger terrorists along with four T-56
weapons and two bicycles from
Thalaikulam area during subsequent
search operations the same day,” the
Army said.
Smaller clashes were reported in
Vanerikulam area in the Kilinochchi
District and in Welioya as well. Eight
Tigers had been killed in the clashes in
Weilioya. Details of casualties among
government troops were not available.
Meanwhile Tamil net quoting LTTE sources
upped the figure of deaths among
soldiers in battles at Vannerikulam and
Andankulam in the Kilinochchi District
last week to 85 and the injured to 240.
A figure rejected by the government
military. The LTTE too denies the
casualty figures cited by the
Government.
During the week 30 bodies were handed
over to the army by the LTTE through the
ICRC. Some bodies have been identified
as those of soldiers who died in the
battle but others still remain
unidentified. Only 13 bodies had been
identified and 17 remained at the
Anuradhapura and Padaviya hospital late
last week unidentified. Some in advance
stages of decomposition.
Yesterday Air Force MI-24 helicopters
carried out air raids on Tiger bunker
lines north of Welioya around
9.30 am.
In similar incident Air Force personnel
confronted a group of Tigers in the
Peraru jungles, north of Trincomalee.
The Tigers were attempting to infiltrate
into government controlled areas, the
Defence Ministry said.
Last weekend, at least 10 Tigers were
killed when Army’s Special Force members
confronted a group of Tigers after
members from the Civil Defence Force had
detected the group trying to sneak into
government areas, through the FDL north
of Padaviya Tank.
