Heavy fighting continues in the Mannar and Manal Aru areas as Sri Lankan forces attempt to move into Tamil Tiger-held areas amid heavy resistance. There have been sporadic clashes in the northern Jaffna peninsula also.
Following the crushing of a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensive in Jaffna on April 23 which left 185 soldiers dead, according to press reports, the northern front has been relatively quiet with sporadic artillery exchanges and raid by both sides.
However in one major clash, on May 5, eight SLA soldiers were killed and twenty wounded in Mukamaalai, the centre of the frontline in Jaffna.
However, the Manal Aru and Mannar fronts have seen heavy battles. The SLA has been trying since mid-2007 to storm into these areas, but has made little progress. What advances have been made, especially in Mannar have been costly.
Whilst the Defence Ministry reports each day to have killed dozens of Tigers, its claims are not being taken seriously. Some media have started to mockingly publish the cumulative totals of the government’s claims in response.
Since President Mahinda Rajapakse assumed office in November 2005, his government has claimed, through announcements and news releases, to have killed over 9,300 LTTE cadres to date, The Sunday Leader said.
So far, according to a compilation of military data, about 360 Tigers have been killed in the fighting in May with the loss of 41 soldiers, Reuters said.
Whilst commentators have questioned the painfully slow advance of the SLA, which is pitching two divisions against the LTTE in Mannar, the government has been announcing the hamlets and villages that it has reached as ‘key’ victories.
Adampan town, for example, a small cluster of a few houses and town buildings and Palampiddy, have been turned in the Defence Ministry’s media briefings into strategic steps in its war to ‘liberate’ the north.
With the government’s support amongst the Sinhala voters linked directly to progress in the war, especially amid the soaring cost of living, the propaganda efforts have been stepped up.
Whilst a division is officially nine thousand men, but many of the newly formed SLA divisions tasked with capturing Mannar and Manal Aru are said to be under-strength due to desertion.
Last Sunday May 18 the LTTE thwarted an SLA attempt to move deeper into Mannar region. At least 26 soldiers were killed and fifty wounded, the LTTE said.
The bodies of six soldiers, along with several weapons and ammunition, were left behind by their retreating comrades. The Army said it lost fifteen soldiers and killed sixty Tigers.
Earlier on May 9, the LTTE defeated another SLA advance towards Karukkaaykkulam, 2 km east of the hamlet of Adampan. Thirty soldiers were killed before the operation, launched with close-air-support from helicopter gunships, was halted. Seven SLA soldiers’ bodies were recovered in LTTE clearing operations.
On May 6, another SLA push towards Vaddakkandal was defeated and nine soldiers killed when their armored personnel carrier (APC) blew up.
Battles in both Mannar and Manal Aru routinely involve heavy exchanges of artillery and mortar fire. In Mannar the SLA has also been using tanks and APCs. Manal Aru is a region with thick jungle areas.
Whilst the LTTE has put up fierce resistance in some locations, at other locations its fighters have melted away. In several places deep inside Army-occupied Mannar, LTTE infiltrators have been planting landmines and explosive devices.
