The Hindu : Front Page : Navy, LTTE clash at Point Pedro

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Monday, Jan 22, 2007
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Navy, LTTE clash at Point Pedro

B. Muralidhar Reddy

Army continues operations in other LTTE strongholds in and around Vaharai

— Photo: AP

LOOKING FOR A HOME: Tamils prepare for registration after spending a night at a camp in Kiran, about 230 km northeast of Colombo, on Sunday. Government troops routed Tamil Tiger rebels from Vaharai village, on Friday.

COLOMBO: The Sri Lanka Navy and the Sea Tigers were engaged in a battle at Point Pedro on Sunday after the latter attacked a commercial vessel.

The latest battle came even as the Army continued its march towards the remaining pockets of influence of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in and around the Vaharai region. The military claimed to have killed 40 fleeing Tigers in the ongoing fight.

A statement from the Navy said two clusters of LTTE boats from the Veththalakerni area attacked the City of Liverpool, which carries foodstuffs for civilians in the Jaffna peninsula.

The commercial vessel was sailing back after unloading its cargo at the Point Pedro harbour when the Tigers attacked it at 3.45 p.m. It was claimed that the Navy destroyed two LTTE suicide boats when they were moving towards the vessel.

The Army launched an artillery attack on the LTTE boats, and Air Force fighter jets also provided assistance. The military described the attack as a "desperate act" by the LTTE to intimidate the civilian population in the North after losing Vaharai and Kadiraveli.

"This act of attacking a vessel engaged in a humanitarian mission proves the inhumanity of the LTTE and its callous disregard for the welfare of the Tamil civilians, whom they claim to liberate," the military said.

TamilNet said Army troopers fired artillery shots into the Point Pedro Sea as a number of Tiger boats were observed in the harbour around 5 p.m. It said the targeted ship was now anchored about four nautical miles from the shore.

More area captured

Separately, the Army claimed to have captured area from Verugal to Mavil Aru and the region extending to Sinhapura towards Vaharai west "in its successful operation to liberate the eastern province from Tiger domination." It said advancing troops had observed 22 bodies of terrorists killed in action in the area.

"Now that all mortar and artillery positions of the terrorists have been neutralised, the displaced people from Serunuwara and Kallar, who had gone to Kantalai, could be resettled in their traditional villages," it said.

Congratulating the soldiers for their successes, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Mahinda Rajapaksa said it was because of their "noble sacrifice that that 95 per cent of the civilians in the Eastern Province are now able to enjoy freedom, democratic rights, and live without fear."

"Let us ensure that the whole nation will be free from the horrors of terrorism so that their sacrifice will never go in vain," he said in a statement. He declared that he would take all necessary action to remove the fear of terrorism for the future generations of the country.

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