In the heaviest fighting since the February 2002 ceasefire, the Liberation Tigers last week launched a ground offensive against Sri Lanka Army positions in Trincomalee, saying they were pre-empting a major onslaught against their controlled areas in the district.
Hundreds of LTTE fighters backed by artillery and mortars last Wednesday stormed into government-controlled areas, attacking four major Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps and entering the government-controlled town of Muttur.
Up to seventeen SLA mini-camps had fallen to a multi-pronged LTTE advance into the Muttur district, reports said.
The overnight offensive took the government by surprise, reports said. The SLA had for the week prior to the LTTE attack been engaged in an offensive against an LTTE-controlled resevoir in Maavil Aru in southern Trincomalee district.
Muttur was the scene of the heaviest fighting. The predominantly Muslim town lies on the coast directly across the bay from the famous Trincomalee harbour.
Muttur’s jetty overlooks the mouth of Trincomalee harbour and the town is seen as strategically important.
The harbour itself came under fire by LTTE artillery based in Sampur, with almost 36 shells hitting government installations.
A troop transport coming into Trincomalee carrying Sri Lankan soldiers on leave from Jaffna had a narrow escape after being targeted by LTTE artillery and Sea Tiger gunboats.
On Wednesday intense fighting raged in Muttur as hundreds of heavily armed LTTE cadres who have taken control of the town centre laid siege to four Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps on its periphery, residents said.
Resident Abdul Rauf told the BBC Tamil service that hundreds of LTTE cadres who moved into Muttur could be seen in all parts of the town and that Sri Lankan troops had retreated into camps located at four corners of the town.
“The LTTE has completely surrounded the camps. Sri Lankan troops cannot come in or break out,” he said.
Major Rajapakse, Sri Lanka’s Deputy Defence spokesman, denying the eyewitness reports told the BBC LTTE cadres were ‘desperately’ withdrawing before an SLA counterattack and have taken refuge in Muttur hospital, banks and government buildings.
“It is a total lie,” he said of reports that SLA was not in control of the Muttur town.
After four days of fighting, which killed 30 odd troops on each side and scores of civilians, mainly by artillery shells, the LTTE withdrew to its controlled areas.
The LTTE pull-back came after days of shelling and mortar and artillery duels around Muttur which, after its entire population fled, was left a ghost town, buildings badly damaged and riddled with bullet holes.
Aid workers estimate 20,000 to 30,000 civilians fled from Mutur on Friday to escape shelling, several thousand of whom have reached the government-held town of Kantale around 20 miles (30 km) southwest.
The SLN ferried journalists south across Trincomalee harbour into Mutur for the first time since the fighting, landing them on the beach in small assault boats.
A Reuters correspondent amongst them said Sri Lankan troops looked exhausted, their faces covered with grime and weapons hanging loosely at their sides.
Along the water line, houses already damaged by the 2004 tsunami stood deserted. The navy camp at the jetty was devastated and just two civilians were seen on the streets.
As troops checked buildings for booby-traps, reporters heard mortar and small arms fire nearby. The navy said between some Tiger fighters were moving from house to house in the outer suburbs of Muttur.
On Thursday, artillery shells hit locations in Muttur where the town’s residents were sheltering, prompting a panic-stricken exodus after dozens were killed.
Sri Lanka’s largest Muslim party Thursday accused the Sri Lankan government of killing the civilians.
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader, Rauf Hakeem told AFP: “the people were killed in attacks carried out by the security forces.”
“The government must take responsibility for the killing of civilians,” he told AFP, calling on both sides to stop their offensives and return to the positions held at the time the 2002 truce came into being.
At least ten Muslim civilians who sought refuge in Arabic College in Muttur town were killed when an artillery shell hit the college Thursday around noon. About nine thousand Muslim civilians, men, women and children had sought refuge in the Arabic College.
Twelve Muslim villagers in Al Nuriah Muslim school in Thoppur were killed Thursday evening when SLA artillery shells hit the school.
Five Muslim civilians were killed in artillery fire on Friday that hit a school in Thoppur. The civilian victims were about to leave the Al Hamra Muslim Vidyalayam when artillery shells fired by Sri Lankan artillery in Trincomalee base began hitting civilian areas.
The LTTE’s military spokesman, Irasaiah Ilanthiayan, told TamilNet that the LTTE troops returned to their original positions as per February 22, 2002 Ceasefire Agreement by midnight Friday.
32 LTTE fighters, including a Lieutenant Colonel and another senior cadre of the Tigers were killed in the operation that was mean to exert pressure on Colombo’s military offensive to resolve a civilian dispute, Mr. Ilanthirayan said.
Two Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Dvora Fast Attack Crafts (FACs) were destroyed and sunk, 3 boats were damaged. The LTTE said two Black Tigers and seven Sea Tigers were killed in the seas off Trincomalee harbour on Tuesday.
Mortars, Light Machine Guns and ammunition were seized from SLA camps attacked by the LTTE in Mahindapura, Selvanagar, 64th Mile Post, Kaddaiparichchan camp, Muthur Jetty and Pachchanoor. SLA camp attached to Muthur Police was also attacked.
The speedy operation was brought to an end as most of the targets were overrun, Ilanthirayan said. Lt. Col. Kunchan (Isayamuthan) was one of the two senior LTTE cadres who were killed.
“Every military operation is limited till the objective of the mission is achieved. Our objective of the mission, with a defensive character, was accomplished and our forces returned to their positions as per February 22, 2002 Ceasefire,” Ilanthirayan said.
“The operation aimed at giving a military pressure was speedily carried out and ceased the same way, as our national leader was highly concerned of the humanitarian situation in the entire Trincomalee district,” Ilanthirayan further said.
“We launched the operation after notifying the Muslim leaders in Muthur Mosque Society two hours in advance Tuesday night. We launched the operation at 2:00 a.m. Community leaders were notified midnight to evacuate civilians to safe locations.”
Announcing the start of its offensive, the LTTE said Wednesday its military activities in Trincomalee, including the operation against Sri Lankan military camps in the early hours Wednesday, were intended to disrupt Sri Lanka’s indiscriminate onslaught against Tamil civilians in LTTE-controlled areas.
The LTTE’s military spokesman, I. Ilanthirayan, said that amid the indiscriminate bombing and shelling of civilian areas by the Sri Lankan armed forces as part of their offensive in the Mavil Aru region, there was an “urgent humanitarian need” that had compelled what he described as “defensive actions.”
For several days Sri Lankan forces had unleashed indiscriminate bombardment of civilian targets, prompting the Tigers to take proactive defensive measures, Mr. Ilanthirayan said.
As such, the LTTE had targeted the Sri Lankan military’s artillery bases as well as the supply lines to troops massed in the Mavil Aaru area, he said.
The naval clashes that erupted in the seas of Trincomalee Tuesday were also part of efforts to disrupt Sri Lanka’s offensive, he said.
The SLN vessel ‘Jet Liner’ had got caught up in the LTTE’s such efforts. “It was not a specific target but entered the LTTE’s theatre of defensive action,” he added.
Mr. Ilanthirayan slammed the Sri Lankan government of President Mahinda Rajapakse for launching a military offensive on the pretext of a dispute over water – a dispute, he added, which had been in the process of being resolved before Colombo’s military intervention.
Mr. Ilanthirayan also confirmed that the Sea Tigers had clashed twice last Tuesday with the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) in the seas off Pulmoddai. He characterised these as ‘defensive
Diplomats and analysts say the February 2002 truce holds only on paper and that a two-decade civil war that has killed over sixty thousand civilians since 1983 has resumed.
“The government can play with semantics, but it’s hard to see what’s going on as anything but a war,” one Western diplomat told Reuters.
Hundreds of LTTE fighters backed by artillery and mortars last Wednesday stormed into government-controlled areas, attacking four major Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps and entering the government-controlled town of Muttur.
Up to seventeen SLA mini-camps had fallen to a multi-pronged LTTE advance into the Muttur district, reports said.
The overnight offensive took the government by surprise, reports said. The SLA had for the week prior to the LTTE attack been engaged in an offensive against an LTTE-controlled resevoir in Maavil Aru in southern Trincomalee district.
Muttur was the scene of the heaviest fighting. The predominantly Muslim town lies on the coast directly across the bay from the famous Trincomalee harbour.
Muttur’s jetty overlooks the mouth of Trincomalee harbour and the town is seen as strategically important.
The harbour itself came under fire by LTTE artillery based in Sampur, with almost 36 shells hitting government installations.
A troop transport coming into Trincomalee carrying Sri Lankan soldiers on leave from Jaffna had a narrow escape after being targeted by LTTE artillery and Sea Tiger gunboats.
On Wednesday intense fighting raged in Muttur as hundreds of heavily armed LTTE cadres who have taken control of the town centre laid siege to four Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps on its periphery, residents said.
Resident Abdul Rauf told the BBC Tamil service that hundreds of LTTE cadres who moved into Muttur could be seen in all parts of the town and that Sri Lankan troops had retreated into camps located at four corners of the town.
“The LTTE has completely surrounded the camps. Sri Lankan troops cannot come in or break out,” he said.
Major Rajapakse, Sri Lanka’s Deputy Defence spokesman, denying the eyewitness reports told the BBC LTTE cadres were ‘desperately’ withdrawing before an SLA counterattack and have taken refuge in Muttur hospital, banks and government buildings.
“It is a total lie,” he said of reports that SLA was not in control of the Muttur town.
After four days of fighting, which killed 30 odd troops on each side and scores of civilians, mainly by artillery shells, the LTTE withdrew to its controlled areas.
The LTTE pull-back came after days of shelling and mortar and artillery duels around Muttur which, after its entire population fled, was left a ghost town, buildings badly damaged and riddled with bullet holes.
Aid workers estimate 20,000 to 30,000 civilians fled from Mutur on Friday to escape shelling, several thousand of whom have reached the government-held town of Kantale around 20 miles (30 km) southwest.
The SLN ferried journalists south across Trincomalee harbour into Mutur for the first time since the fighting, landing them on the beach in small assault boats.
A Reuters correspondent amongst them said Sri Lankan troops looked exhausted, their faces covered with grime and weapons hanging loosely at their sides.
Along the water line, houses already damaged by the 2004 tsunami stood deserted. The navy camp at the jetty was devastated and just two civilians were seen on the streets.
As troops checked buildings for booby-traps, reporters heard mortar and small arms fire nearby. The navy said between some Tiger fighters were moving from house to house in the outer suburbs of Muttur.
On Thursday, artillery shells hit locations in Muttur where the town’s residents were sheltering, prompting a panic-stricken exodus after dozens were killed.
Sri Lanka’s largest Muslim party Thursday accused the Sri Lankan government of killing the civilians.
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader, Rauf Hakeem told AFP: “the people were killed in attacks carried out by the security forces.”
“The government must take responsibility for the killing of civilians,” he told AFP, calling on both sides to stop their offensives and return to the positions held at the time the 2002 truce came into being.
At least ten Muslim civilians who sought refuge in Arabic College in Muttur town were killed when an artillery shell hit the college Thursday around noon. About nine thousand Muslim civilians, men, women and children had sought refuge in the Arabic College.
Twelve Muslim villagers in Al Nuriah Muslim school in Thoppur were killed Thursday evening when SLA artillery shells hit the school.
Five Muslim civilians were killed in artillery fire on Friday that hit a school in Thoppur. The civilian victims were about to leave the Al Hamra Muslim Vidyalayam when artillery shells fired by Sri Lankan artillery in Trincomalee base began hitting civilian areas.
The LTTE’s military spokesman, Irasaiah Ilanthiayan, told TamilNet that the LTTE troops returned to their original positions as per February 22, 2002 Ceasefire Agreement by midnight Friday.
32 LTTE fighters, including a Lieutenant Colonel and another senior cadre of the Tigers were killed in the operation that was mean to exert pressure on Colombo’s military offensive to resolve a civilian dispute, Mr. Ilanthirayan said.
Two Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Dvora Fast Attack Crafts (FACs) were destroyed and sunk, 3 boats were damaged. The LTTE said two Black Tigers and seven Sea Tigers were killed in the seas off Trincomalee harbour on Tuesday.
Mortars, Light Machine Guns and ammunition were seized from SLA camps attacked by the LTTE in Mahindapura, Selvanagar, 64th Mile Post, Kaddaiparichchan camp, Muthur Jetty and Pachchanoor. SLA camp attached to Muthur Police was also attacked.
The speedy operation was brought to an end as most of the targets were overrun, Ilanthirayan said. Lt. Col. Kunchan (Isayamuthan) was one of the two senior LTTE cadres who were killed.
“Every military operation is limited till the objective of the mission is achieved. Our objective of the mission, with a defensive character, was accomplished and our forces returned to their positions as per February 22, 2002 Ceasefire,” Ilanthirayan said.
“The operation aimed at giving a military pressure was speedily carried out and ceased the same way, as our national leader was highly concerned of the humanitarian situation in the entire Trincomalee district,” Ilanthirayan further said.
“We launched the operation after notifying the Muslim leaders in Muthur Mosque Society two hours in advance Tuesday night. We launched the operation at 2:00 a.m. Community leaders were notified midnight to evacuate civilians to safe locations.”
Announcing the start of its offensive, the LTTE said Wednesday its military activities in Trincomalee, including the operation against Sri Lankan military camps in the early hours Wednesday, were intended to disrupt Sri Lanka’s indiscriminate onslaught against Tamil civilians in LTTE-controlled areas.
The LTTE’s military spokesman, I. Ilanthirayan, said that amid the indiscriminate bombing and shelling of civilian areas by the Sri Lankan armed forces as part of their offensive in the Mavil Aru region, there was an “urgent humanitarian need” that had compelled what he described as “defensive actions.”
For several days Sri Lankan forces had unleashed indiscriminate bombardment of civilian targets, prompting the Tigers to take proactive defensive measures, Mr. Ilanthirayan said.
As such, the LTTE had targeted the Sri Lankan military’s artillery bases as well as the supply lines to troops massed in the Mavil Aaru area, he said.
The naval clashes that erupted in the seas of Trincomalee Tuesday were also part of efforts to disrupt Sri Lanka’s offensive, he said.
The SLN vessel ‘Jet Liner’ had got caught up in the LTTE’s such efforts. “It was not a specific target but entered the LTTE’s theatre of defensive action,” he added.
Mr. Ilanthirayan slammed the Sri Lankan government of President Mahinda Rajapakse for launching a military offensive on the pretext of a dispute over water – a dispute, he added, which had been in the process of being resolved before Colombo’s military intervention.
Mr. Ilanthirayan also confirmed that the Sea Tigers had clashed twice last Tuesday with the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) in the seas off Pulmoddai. He characterised these as ‘defensive
Diplomats and analysts say the February 2002 truce holds only on paper and that a two-decade civil war that has killed over sixty thousand civilians since 1983 has resumed.
“The government can play with semantics, but it’s hard to see what’s going on as anything but a war,” one Western diplomat told Reuters.
