Mannar Offensive- 2nd Lead

Sri Lanka Army units from Sinha Regiment and Gajaba Regiment, backed by Army Commandos, who were involved in the pre-dawn attack on LTTE FDL in Mannar have now returned to the captured LTTE FDL after infiltrating further into LTTE areas. They have recovered at least 7 LTTE dead bodies and monitored communication revealed at least 15 more may have been killed. The Army lost three men and over 30 others were injured. The advance into LTTE areas was temporarily halted following heavy resistance in the area West of Giant Tank. Meanwhile a civilian was killed when a stray mortar hit her in the general area Murunkan.

Several Updates

Sri Lanka Army's infantry units moving ahead of the Muhamalai Forward Defenceline in Jaffna last morning destroyed an LTTE bunkerline killing ten LTTE cadres. Their bodies were left behind due to logistical problems. The Army has also intensified shelling and artillery strikes on identified LTTE targets ahead of the Vavuniya FDL this morning. Meanwhile the Sri Lanka Air Force is continuing air-strikes on pre-identified targets. The most recent attack was on an LTTE intelligence gathering place in Puthukudiiruppu on Monday, an attack on an LTTE Sea Tiger base on Tuesday and an LTTE training base in Weli Oya this morning. The locations of the targets were gathered prior to the loss of the UAVs.

Two members of the Army's Elite Special Forces were killed in a bunker-busting operation ahead of the Mannar Forward Defenceline. The two men were part of an 8-man team from the 2nd Special Forces Brigade that had to face unusual resistance from the LTTE in a thick jungle area. The two men got trapped and laid down their lives valiantly killing six LTTE cadres in the process. The thick jungle covering prevented the other six men from getting to the two men who got trapped and the terrain provided the LTTE an opportunity to seize the remains of the two soldiers, whose bodies have since been returned through the Red Cross. Contrary to Pro-LTTE Media, these were not members of the Special Forces Long Range Reconnaissance Team (LRRP/LRS). By the time this is written, the SLA has overrun the LTTE's FDL in Mannar killing over twenty LTTE cadres in a fresh offensive launched by the SLA this morning.

Meanwhile many senior officers of the Military commended President Mahinda Rajapakse's decision to withdraw the Media Censorship Law. They are of the opinion that almost all Sinhala and English Media and some Tamil Media are faithful to the Military, but had no option but criticize the lapses at the Anuradhapura Airbase. They claimed these exposures are warranted given the negligence and serious lapses in security at the base. They further believe that civilians have the right to information regarding the management of the war, acquisition or destruction of military assets etc given they do not unduly assist the enemy.

Army captured LTTE line

Sri Lanka Army was able to overrun the first line of LTTE defences in area between Giant Tank and Madhu in Mannar District early on Thursday morning killing at least 06 Tigers. Troops backed by Artillery and Multi Barrel Rocket Launchers were able to capture the LTTE bunkerline despite heavy resistance, military sources said. Army officials say that around 10-14 soldiers were injured in the pre-dawn attack, but more than 20 wounded soldiers were admitted to Anuradhapura hospital since this morning, hospital sources said. 03 soldiers succumbed to their injuries sources further added. Independent verification on Tiger casualties are not available at the moment, but military says several LTTE cadres may have been killed or injured during the attack. Sri Lanka Army made more than 10 attempts to penetrate in to the Tiger home land since early this year but failed due to heavy resistance by the LTTE.