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Sri Lanka steps up offensive

COLOMBO: At least 62 LTTE cadre and 10 soldiers were killed as the military launched an all-out offensive to “flush out their last presence in the bastion Kilinochchi town,” said the Defence Ministry on Tuesday.

A Ministry statement said the LTTE’s casualties were on the rise as security forces were making their presence felt in Kilinochchi and are “on the verge of mounting a full-fledged assault at the Tiger heartland.”

The LTTE has not reacted to the military’s claims. For several days now, the focus of LTTE website reports and the pro-LTTE TamilNet is on the plight of the internally displaced persons and the “indifference” of the international community to the “humanitarian crisis” in Wanni.

The Defence Ministry said intense battles are expected in the coming weeks as the soldiers have taken up positions to flush out the last LTTE presence in its bastion Kilinochchi, after a decade.

“Tension prevails according to reliable information within LTTE ranks, after Army chief Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka announced [the] intention of the military to launch the first rounds at Kilinochchi, at a gathering of the troops on Thursday,” the Ministry noted.

“Overall, this is totally quite different from what the LTTE and its paymasters had anticipated, taking consideration into its campaign to portrait a ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ in Wanni. Both the Tamils and international community have shown great resilience keeping faith in the government’s stance to liberate thousands stranded with LTTE,” it quoted the Army chief as saying.

Also, the Special Boat Squadron sailors of the Navy claimed to have attacked and destroyed two LTTE assault boats, off Pooneryn Sea, on Monday.

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