Wanni is surrounded on all prongs

By Shanika Sriyananda

The Security Forces have occupied the LTTE's Forward Defence Lines and surrounded the Wanni LTTE bases from all directions. The Army Chief said that the LTTE could not prevent losing their remaining 3000 cadres and there is no assurance that the LTTE Leader V. Prabhakaran would survive for the next six months as the Sri Lankan Air Force plans to attack all the LTTE bases.

Therefore the three armed forces are confident of wiping out the LTTE, which is now smarting its wounds due to the present military operations.

The Army Commander Gen. Sarath Fonseka is highly satisfied over the successes against the terrorists in the outgoing year and said that the prime target of the military was to destroy the LTTE's presence in the North completely.

In an interview with the 'Sunday Observer' the Army Chief said that there are around 3000 LTTE terrorists remaining and that the military targets to annihilate them within the first six months of the next year. "Our daily target is to kill at least 10 LTTE terrorists and for the last few months over 500 LTTE carders have been killed by the armed forces. We have weakened the LTTE by 50 per cent or more and we are confident we can go that extra mile in the coming year", he said.

He said the correct directives and the support given by the President and the Ministry of Defence had helped the military to achieve the set targets. " All the citizens are waiting to see an end to terrorism. The President very clearly announced his firm opinion about wiping out terrorism and bringing political solutions to address the problems of the Tamil people", Gen. Fonseka said.

He said the military has come a long way defeating terrorism and the military operations in Wanni were 100 per cent successful. " The damage to the LTTE in Wanni is high and their major camps have already fallen", he said adding that now the outfit is facing a severe shortage of man power.

"Bodies of the LTTE Police and the Sea Tigers seized by the armed forces show that the outfit is facing a severe shortage of man power and it is evident the out fit is in total disarray", he said.

Meanwhile, over 8000 army deserters have reported back to the army. Gen. Fonseka said the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs together work out to block the LTTE's gun running activities.