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LTTE suffering heavy losses, says Colombo

COLOMBO: At least 57 cadres of the LTTE and three soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army were killed in fierce fighting along the Forward Defence Lines (FDLs) in the north in the last three days, the military claimed on Saturday.

A report by the Defence Ministry maintained that the LTTE continues to suffer “heavy losses”’ as the security forces’ hold in the northern region is getting stronger.

“Despite the absence of a major counter terror offensive in the part of the security forces, the terrorists have been getting soaring death and casualty figures in scattered and intermittent clashes occurred along the Wanni and Northern Forward Defence Lines”, it said.

The Ministry said that over 57 LTTE cadres were killed and at least another 16 were injured in sporadic clashes in Jaffna, Vavuniya and Mannar from Thursday morning to Saturday afternoon.

It said in the Jaffna front alone, 16 LTTE cadres were killed in six separate clashes that occurred along the Muhamalai FDL.

At Muhamalai frontline, four LTTE cadres were killed in two separate clashes broke out on Friday morning, the Ministry said.

On the Mannar front, the Ministry claimed that over 30 LTTE cadres were killed in the confrontations took place since Thursday.

Also navy claimed that 17 LTTE cadres were killed in the sea confrontation that took place in the coastal waters North of Mannar Island on Friday.

On Saturday, as per the military, security forces continued to hold out against increasing infiltration bids by LTTE at Wanni Forward Defence Line killing seven LTTE cadres and destroying one bunker.

Separately, in its latest situation report, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission said, “The overall situation in the Northern Region remained tense, as military activities continued along the northern and southern Forward Defence Localities.”

In Jaffna, eight persons were shot and killed during the week, contributing to the general fear among the civilian population.

“During the week the SLMM was informed about growing fear in several communities in the Eastern Region (ER).

“The SLMM is concerned about disappearances, killings and abductions in Kanniya, Eachilampattu and Valaichchenai. The three areas were visited during the week, and the communities face ongoing security challenge.”

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