March towards victory

LTTE cornered in Mullaitivu

by Dhaneshi YATAWARA

After the opening of A9 road and the fall of Elephant Pass, the LTTE is virtually trapped in a corner mainly within the Mullaitivu district. The LTTE is facing the brunt from seven divisions of the Sri Lanka Army, i.e. 55 and 53 Divisions of the Northern front, 58, 57, 59, Task Force 03 and 04 from the Vanni front.

At the moment 53 and 55 Divisions commanded by Brigadiers Kamal Gunaratne and Prasanna de Silva respectively are heading towards south from Elephant Pass while troops attached to the 58 Division commanded by Brigadier Shavendra Silva is moving towards East with the capture of Murasumoddai late last week.

The 57 division, commanded by Major General Jagath Dias, heads towards the East targeting Mullaitivu. Presently 57 Division is located in Iranamadu with the Iranamadu Tank being the boundary.

Task Force 03 Commanded by Brigadier Sathyapriya Liyanage operates from the Ampakamam East directed towards the Mullaitivu area. Task Force 04, commanded by Colonel Nishantha Wanniarachchi located North of Oddusudan lies in the South West direction of the 59 Division.

The 59 Division commanded by Brigadier Nandana Udawatta is directly aiming at Mullaitivu, lying in the Mulliyawalai area South of Mullaitivu. With these developments, the Sri Lanka Navy has increased their defence in depth in support of the progressing ground troops.

Covering the areas immediately close to the coastal line, the Navy small attack craft patrol continuously while the Offshore patrol vessels monitor and safeguard the deep sea. Another line of Navy craft are patrolling in between these two lines in order to fully secure the waters from fleeing LTTE cadres and other infiltrators.

In support of the ground troops Sri Lanka Air Force continues their sorties towards LTTE defences and strategically important locations of the terrorists.