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| This child was among 13 people killed by Sri Lankan commandos who triggered a mine at a vehicle carrying civilians fleeing the offensive towards their villages. The Army said LTTE cadres were killed. |
On Saturday September 1, the Sri Lankan army announced it was launching a ‘humanitarian’ operation with the aim of ‘liberating’ six thousand civilians in LTTE held territory south of Mannar.
On Sunday, a day after announcing the launch of the operation, Sri Lankan military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe told the Associated Press that the military had ousted the LTTE from a key coastal area in Mannar district.
"The army has Chilaavaththurai and Arippu areas (in Mannar) under control," Samarasinghe told the Associated Press.
According to Samarasinghe the army also captured a camp belonging to the Sea Tigers in the village of Chilaavaththurai and seized three boats and a large number of anti-personnel mines and detonators.
Sri Lankan military top brass and the state news agencies projected the military operation as a major success and gave wide publicity to it.
Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka claimed it as a significant victory for the military as the LTTE used the base to transport arms and ammunition.
However the LTTE military spokesperson Irasiah Ilanthirayan dismissed the claims as ‘yet another political stunt’ by the government and said there were no LTTE military units stationed in the areas the army claims to have captured.
Ilanthirayan speaking to the Morning Leader newspaper accused the Sri Lankan state of staging another political stunt aimed at fooling the people in the south and challenged the military to launch an offensive into areas where there are Tiger cadres in the Wanni.
"The government is beating around the bush without looking into the core issues. It is not targeting our main areas at all. It is just another eyewash," said Ilanthirayan.
Chilaavaththurai is south of the Medawachahiya-Mannar Road, which is controlled by the government and there were no armed Tiger cadres in the region, he added.
Labelling the operation as ‘political stunt -2 of the government’, after Thoppigala, Ilanthirayan said there was no fighting in Chilaavaththurai and there were only the Tigers’ humanitarian workers stationed in the area.
The LTTE military spokesperson cited the numerous failed attempts by the Sri Lankan army to capture LTTE controlled territory in Mannar district and said government was capable of doing anything to mislead the people to gain political advantage.
"They have already tried to attack our areas and did not taste success. The government will hoist its national flag in Wilpattu, Sinharaja or some nearby jungle and show the people they have captured key areas of the LTTE," he said.
Following the operation the Sri Lankan military said it had intercepted radio communications that indicated 11 LTTE cadres were killed in the fighting but Ilanthirayan denied any LTTE casualty due to the army offensive.
However 13 civilians fleeing the Sri Lanka Army offensive towards Chilaavaththurai were killed in a claymore attack carried out by a Sri Lankan Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) on Saturday.
Two ambulances sent from Mannaar hospital to transport the wounded were blocked at Chirukkandal SLA camp and it took more than six hours to transport the wounded to Mannaar hospital, TamilNet reported.
