Tigers lose a whopping 84 in the East

by Ranga Jayasuriya

At least 84 LTTE cadres were killed in an abortive attack on the forward defence lines in Kajuwatta, Batticaloa early yesterday when the army retaliated.

The security forces in their counter attack pushed the LTTE attackers five km into uncleared areas. Thirteen soldiers were killed and six soldiers were wounded in the battle that ensued.

The Security forces also charged that retreating Tiger cadres had destroyed the Panichchankerni Bridge, stranding 30,000 civilians in the LTTE held Verugal area.

Twelve bodies of LTTE cadres were yesterday transferred to the Valachchenai Hospital and were expected to be handed over to the LTTE through the ICRC.

Military officials in the field said advancing troops also saw over 40 bodies of the fallen LTTE fighters, most of them lying close to the security forces forward defence lines.

"That was a well planned attack to overrun our positions in the General area of Kajuwatta and Mankerni. We had to act tough and we did it," said a military official in the field. Troops also intercepted LTTE transmissions which said twenty cadres were killed in the Naval attack on five LTTE boats bringing reinforcement to the LTTE in Mankerni. Three boats were destroyed in the attack, said the official.

Meanwhile, the Karuna faction had overrun LTTE positions in Kadiramulla Kulam, 10 km west of Vakarai. According to intelligence sources, over 40 LTTE cadres were killed in the clash. Five Karuna fighters were killed and 18 wounded, according to intelligence sources. However, these figures could not be independently verified.