Hostile forays by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) into Liberation Tigers controlled territory in Batticaloa district are serious acts of military aggression and have the potential to trigger a major destructive war, the LTTE warned international truce monitors, after a bloody clash that left 16 dead.
The LTTE warning came after at least 12 Sri Lankan troopers were killed when the Tigers confronted a SLA unit comprising at least 100 soldiers that had moved 5 km inside their controlled areas in the Batticaloa district.
Four LTTE cadres were killed and six wounded in the fighting in Vakaneri.
The Tigers recovered the bodies of twelve SLA soldiers, the LTTE’s Batticaloa Political Head, Mr. P. Daya Mohan, told TamilNet
One Lance Corporal, identified as R. M. Karunarathne, 24, from Monaragala, was captured alive.
“SLA soldiers have been firing mortar and artillery rounds indiscriminately from Thursday night into residential areas of Vadamunai and Vakeneri inside the areas of LTTE control,” Mr. Daya Mohan wrote to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) on Saturday 15 July.
“A group of SLA soldiers Thursday night clandestinely entered into villages past Vakaneri further towards Kulathumadu into LTTE controlled areas and mounted attacks. Residents have fled these villages due to fears of further violence.”
“We regard the hostile action by the SLA not only as a serious violation of the Cease Fire Agreement, but more critically as an act of provocation to trigger a major war. This incident exposes Sri Lanka’s President’s reliance on advancing his military agenda while initiating a duplicitous All Party Talks on power sharing to placate the International community.
“We urge the SLMM to take immediate and urgent efforts to prevent the SLA from entering Tamil homelands in the future and to work towards bringing normalcy to peoples lives in affected areas.
The bodies of the dead SLA soldiers were handed over to the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) on Saturday, 15 July, at Black Bridge, Chenkalady.
SLMM officials met with captured Lance Corporal Karunaratne last Wednesday at the LTTE’s Thenaham building in Karadiyanaaru. Head of SLMM for Batticaloa district, Sari Rask, and his deputy attended the meeting. Mr. Daya Mohan was present on behalf of the LTTE.
Mr Karunaratne told the SLMM members that SLA group entered the LTTE-held area under the orders of SLA commanders, and that the LTTE fighters attacked them first when their group advanced towards Vakaneri.
SLA reports from Colombo initially claimed that a group of soldiers on a search and clear operation had gone missing in Vakaneri.
Mr. Daya Mohan said that Sri Lankan troops based at a camp in the Valaichenai Paper Factory north of Batticaloa had moved into the LTTE territory at Kulathumadu in Vakaneri on the night of 13 July.
The Tigers confronted them around 6:00 a.m. the next day. The fighting lasted one hour before the troops withdrew, leaving the bodies of their comrades, he said.
SLA camps located in Miyankulam, Karadikkulam and Valaichenai Paper Factory provided support mortar and artillery fire when the SLA troopers were withdrawing, Mr. Daya Mohan said.
Regular soldiers of the SLA’s 23-2 Brigade conducted the raid, he told TamilNet. Initial reports of the raid being carried by Deep Penetration Units (DPUs) were incorrect, he said.
A brief statement issued by the Sri Lanka Army in its website said that that troops who were on a search and clear operation in “Vakaneri area, Welikanda came under LTTE motar and small arms fire.”
Leaders of LTTE in Batticaloa district handed over the bodies of the 12 soldiers the Saturday following the attack, and they were taken to Valaichchenai government hospital by the ICRC team.
An SLA officer identified the bodies at the hospital, before a SLA team transferred the bodies to Pollonaruwa general hospital with the facilitation of the ICRC for post-mortem examination.
Civilians in the area were displaced to Pendukalsenai by the fighting.
There have been several raids against the LTTE in the area in the past few months, many involving Army-backed paramilitaries. SLA artillery and mortars have often covered the retreat of these DPUs, Mr. Daya Mohan said.
However the incursion at Vakaneri, involving a large number of regular Sri Lankan troops with artillery support, marks a degree of escalation in the long-running ‘low intensity‚ war’ between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan military, reports said.
The Batticaloa LTTE office released the following names of the LTTE fighters killed in the attack as being Captain Navalogan (Nagarajah Kugan) from Murippu, Mulliyavalai, 2nd Lt. Veera (Masilamani Maheswaran) from Kulathumadu, Vahaneri, Batticaloa, Captain Puvathanan (Ganesh Pirabhakaran) from Thihiliveddai, Santhiveli, Batticaloa, and 2nd Lt. Ilaveeran (Kandiah Kones) from College Road, Santhiveli, Batticaloa.
The LTTE warning came after at least 12 Sri Lankan troopers were killed when the Tigers confronted a SLA unit comprising at least 100 soldiers that had moved 5 km inside their controlled areas in the Batticaloa district.
Four LTTE cadres were killed and six wounded in the fighting in Vakaneri.
The Tigers recovered the bodies of twelve SLA soldiers, the LTTE’s Batticaloa Political Head, Mr. P. Daya Mohan, told TamilNet
One Lance Corporal, identified as R. M. Karunarathne, 24, from Monaragala, was captured alive.
“SLA soldiers have been firing mortar and artillery rounds indiscriminately from Thursday night into residential areas of Vadamunai and Vakeneri inside the areas of LTTE control,” Mr. Daya Mohan wrote to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) on Saturday 15 July.
“A group of SLA soldiers Thursday night clandestinely entered into villages past Vakaneri further towards Kulathumadu into LTTE controlled areas and mounted attacks. Residents have fled these villages due to fears of further violence.”
“We regard the hostile action by the SLA not only as a serious violation of the Cease Fire Agreement, but more critically as an act of provocation to trigger a major war. This incident exposes Sri Lanka’s President’s reliance on advancing his military agenda while initiating a duplicitous All Party Talks on power sharing to placate the International community.
“We urge the SLMM to take immediate and urgent efforts to prevent the SLA from entering Tamil homelands in the future and to work towards bringing normalcy to peoples lives in affected areas.
The bodies of the dead SLA soldiers were handed over to the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) on Saturday, 15 July, at Black Bridge, Chenkalady.
SLMM officials met with captured Lance Corporal Karunaratne last Wednesday at the LTTE’s Thenaham building in Karadiyanaaru. Head of SLMM for Batticaloa district, Sari Rask, and his deputy attended the meeting. Mr. Daya Mohan was present on behalf of the LTTE.
Mr Karunaratne told the SLMM members that SLA group entered the LTTE-held area under the orders of SLA commanders, and that the LTTE fighters attacked them first when their group advanced towards Vakaneri.
SLA reports from Colombo initially claimed that a group of soldiers on a search and clear operation had gone missing in Vakaneri.
Mr. Daya Mohan said that Sri Lankan troops based at a camp in the Valaichenai Paper Factory north of Batticaloa had moved into the LTTE territory at Kulathumadu in Vakaneri on the night of 13 July.
The Tigers confronted them around 6:00 a.m. the next day. The fighting lasted one hour before the troops withdrew, leaving the bodies of their comrades, he said.
SLA camps located in Miyankulam, Karadikkulam and Valaichenai Paper Factory provided support mortar and artillery fire when the SLA troopers were withdrawing, Mr. Daya Mohan said.
Regular soldiers of the SLA’s 23-2 Brigade conducted the raid, he told TamilNet. Initial reports of the raid being carried by Deep Penetration Units (DPUs) were incorrect, he said.
A brief statement issued by the Sri Lanka Army in its website said that that troops who were on a search and clear operation in “Vakaneri area, Welikanda came under LTTE motar and small arms fire.”
Leaders of LTTE in Batticaloa district handed over the bodies of the 12 soldiers the Saturday following the attack, and they were taken to Valaichchenai government hospital by the ICRC team.
An SLA officer identified the bodies at the hospital, before a SLA team transferred the bodies to Pollonaruwa general hospital with the facilitation of the ICRC for post-mortem examination.
Civilians in the area were displaced to Pendukalsenai by the fighting.
There have been several raids against the LTTE in the area in the past few months, many involving Army-backed paramilitaries. SLA artillery and mortars have often covered the retreat of these DPUs, Mr. Daya Mohan said.
However the incursion at Vakaneri, involving a large number of regular Sri Lankan troops with artillery support, marks a degree of escalation in the long-running ‘low intensity‚ war’ between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan military, reports said.
The Batticaloa LTTE office released the following names of the LTTE fighters killed in the attack as being Captain Navalogan (Nagarajah Kugan) from Murippu, Mulliyavalai, 2nd Lt. Veera (Masilamani Maheswaran) from Kulathumadu, Vahaneri, Batticaloa, Captain Puvathanan (Ganesh Pirabhakaran) from Thihiliveddai, Santhiveli, Batticaloa, and 2nd Lt. Ilaveeran (Kandiah Kones) from College Road, Santhiveli, Batticaloa.
