Army suffers temporary setback

The Army suffered a setback last weekend when around 600 hardcore LTTE cadres infiltrated the FDL of the Army's 58 Division from the general area Puthukudirippu North. A group of around 200 cadres who attempted to flank the 55 and 58 were massacred by 3 Special Forces and 2 Commandos after the 55 Division spotted them early on.

Although Military Intelligence had warned of a possible infiltration, the 58 Division had not taken the warning seriously. The 600 member LTTE team was led by Lawrence and Swarnam and around 200 of them had escaped back to LTTE dominated areas after dismantling the 58 FDL. It is believed that the body of Lawrence is among those recovered by the SLA.

A group of around 200 more are still inside SLA dominated areas. Troop movement along the A-9 has stopped due to fear of attacks on soldiers returning on leave. The 58 was unable to bridge the broken FDL until the Special Forces and the 57 Division arrived.

Today a team of Tigers from the infiltration team captured an Army Artillery Gun Position and destroyed 3 130mm canons after turning the guns against the SLA. The Tigers had infiltrated 10-12km into SLA dominated areas to capture the position, which is situated near the former IDP camp in Kilinochchi where a woman suicide bomber blew herself up some time ago.

The Army had 200 casualties on the 7th alone, which included 70 killed. After helping the 58 regroup from its setback, the Special Forces will now hunt the Tigers down, which will be somewhat difficult as they are wearing SLA uniforms and reinforced by weapons and food dumps yet unrecovered by the 58. Many were expecting the LTTE to breach the coast from Nagarkovil to Puthumathalang by sea but the 55 Division had made the coastline unbreachable.