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Battle at its bitter end: LTTE

— Photo: AFP

Victory lap: This handout picture from the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry released on Sunday shows troops after capturing the last patch of coastline in the Mullaithivu district on Saturday.

FROM INSIDE THE WAR ZONE: LTTE international relations head K. Pathmanathan on Sunday said the current war between the Tigers and the Sri Lankan military had reached its bitter end and the Tigers had decided to silence their guns in the interest of saving the lives of innocent Tamil citizens.

“This battle has reached its bitter end. Against all odds, we have held back the advancing Sinhalese forces without help or support, except for the unending support of our people. It is our people who are dying now from bombs, shells, illness and hunger. We cannot permit any more harm to befall them. We remain with one last choice — to remove the last weak excuse of the enemy for killing our people. We have decided to silence our guns. Our only regrets are for the lives lost and that we could not hold out for longer. We can no longer bear to see the innocent blood of our people being spilled,” said Mr. Pathmanathan said in a statement issued from outside the country as the military commenced the last phase of the battle.

Mr. Pathmanathan’s statement, which talked about hundreds of civilians falling prey to the bullets of the military, was silent on the whereabouts and fate of the LTTE top brass. It also did not touch on the future strategy of the LTTE.

It said the LTTE appealed to other countries to halt the “unrelenting massacre” by the Army. “We are extremely saddened that this plea has fallen on deaf ears,” it said and appealed to the international community to take immediate measures to save the Tamil people caught in the war zone and take necessary actions to protect the cadres and people giving themselves up to the military.

“The LTTE had for almost three decades fought the Sri Lankan military and defended its right to carry arms as a means of protecting the Tamil people living in the island. After unilaterally walking away from the peace process that began in 2002 with Norwegian facilitation, the Sri Lankan government had opted for a military solution to end the crisis”.

“Since the war intensified in 2007, several thousand Tamil civilians have died. The recent thrust by the military into the northern strong holds of the Tamils have seen an escalation in the deaths and has resulted in untold misery with people succumbing to starvation and lack of medical supplies,” the statement read.

“We need to do everything within our means to stop this carnage. If this means silencing our arms and entering a peace process, that is something that we have already agreed to,” said Mr. Pathamanathan. “This is the need of the hour. These are historically unprecedented times and require historically prudent decisions. If this means saving the lives of thousands of people, it needs to be done” it stated.

The statement also said: “There is not a person who can doubt the LTTE’s fearless and unending commitment to this cause with which we have been entrusted by our people. Know that the Tamils are a people deeply rooted in culture and history. No force can prevent the attainment of justice for our people. Our sons and daughters have taken up this call without question and without hesitation or fear of death”.

“None have hesitated to make the supreme sacrifice for the cause of liberating their motherland. We have not forgotten that it is for our people that we fight. In the face of the current conditions, we will no longer permit this battle to be used as a justification by the forces of the Sinhala state to kill our people. We willingly stand up with courage and silence our guns. We have no other option other than to continue our plea to the international community to save our people,” it said.

Separately, Tamil United Liberation Front leader V. Anandasangaree in a letter addressed to Sri Lanka President, Mahinda Rajapaksa urged him to ensure supply of food and medicines to the displaced civilians.

“The curse of terrorism that was clinging on to Sri Lanka is no more and it is certainly a matter that everyone should feel happy about. But the wounds of war will take several months or even years to heal,” it said.

“Today while the country is asked to celebrate the victory, there are thousands who are weeping for their kith and kin whom they left behind in Mullivaikal, with the hope that they too will be brought to Vavuniya safely. As time goes on the excitement of the people in the IDP centres is also increasing. People want to know as to what had happened to their kith and kin.”

Meanwhile, the military said that troops in the Karayamullaivaikkal area caused heavy damages to the LTTE and recovered several bodies of Tiger cadre and large cache of arms and ammunition.

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