Troops capture LTTE's last stronghold in Mannar District

Reaching to another significant milestone of the Wanni liberation operation, the heroic army soldiers in task Force 1 captured the Vellankulam town, the LTTE's last stronghold in Mannar District this afternoon, August 02.

According to the latest information received from the Mannar front, following the fierce gun battle occurred during last few day, troops have advanced into the Vellankulam town area this afternoon despite the stiff resistance given by the terrorists to protect the strategically important build-up area which has direct supply route between western cost and Mankulam via Thunukkai and Mallavi.

At least 30 LTTE terrorists were killed and more terrorists have withdrawn via see routs with their casualties due to the effective fire power launched by the troops, ground sources said.

Two main fortified LTTE camps were located in the Vellankulam town area and LTTE terrorists withdrawn loosing after Vidattaltivu and Illuppaikkadavai had reorganized in the Vellankulam area to make resistance for the advancing troops.

Extracted from,
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20080802_06

Heavy clashes erupts in Wanni, troops encounter stiff resistance from terrorists

Heavy clashes have flared up in the South of Tunukkai and South of Mallavi areas since this morning (August 1), said the defence sources in the Vavuniya - Mannar battlefront.

According to the sources, troops of 57 division continuing their advance towards the strategically vital Tunukkai town and Mallavi town have come under stiff resistance from LTTE terrorists struggling to hold their strongholds. Terrorists have lobbed hundreds of mortars in order to slowdown the advancing soldiers. However, troops have effectively overpowered the terror attack and taken the situation under control, the sources added.

According to the available information, several soldiers have been killed and others suffered wounds due to the enemy mortar fire. The terrorists too have suffered serious damages. The battle is still on, the latest reports said.

More information will follow..

Extracted from,
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20080801_07

Forces enter Kilinochchi district

Troops engaged in Wanni liberation mission have crossed the district borders between Mannar and Kilinochchi districts at an undisclosed location on the Mannar- Vavuniya combined warfront.

According to the defence sources, fall of Vellankulam, the next town come across after Iluppaikkadavai when travelling northwards on the Mannar- Pooneryn (A-32) road is imminent.

Military reports from the Wanni theatre of operations indicate 20 deaths and 29 casualties to the terrorists and report 4 others as either killed or wounded in clashes occurred in the Mannar - Vavuniya and Welioya battlefront. Also, two soldiers died while two suffered wounds.

Troops belonging to Task Force 1 (TF-1) continued their march, fighting terrorist defences along the left flank of the Mannar- Vavuniya combined front towards Iluppaikkadavai.

Troops established their control over five Square Kilometres area after beating off terrorists from Mundampiddi.

Extracted from,
http://www.dailynews.lk/2008/08/02/sec03.asp

Wanni operation 1 st August 2008

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Source,
SLRC

TNA MP may had connection with late -LTTE Intelligence officer

LTTE Intelligence Officer Lt. Cornel Soorijan was killed 3 days before but on his funeral, Sathasivam Kanagaratnam , TNA MP is the chief gust, source said. According to the source, “TNA MP may had connection with this LTTE Intelligence Head.”

Now he is talking abut LTTE Senior Intelligence Office Lieutenant Cornel Sooriyan’s funeral, He is chief gust and talking about his relation with Sooriyan.

Mr.Sooriyan is a very senior LTTE Intelligent officer worked with TNA MP, reliable source told the Sri Lanka Guardian.

TNA MP and undercover LTTE Intelligence Officer known as TNA MP say Mr.Sooriyan spend his all time inside military control area and killed many Army.

Extracted from,
http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2008/08/tna-mp-may-had-connection-with-this.html
Photos,
http://www.puthinam.com/full.php?

Sri Lanka says Tamil Tigers have links to al-Qaida+

Two senior officials of the Sri Lankan Defense Ministry said Friday the government has reason to believe that the Tamil Tigers have been in contact with other terrorist organizations in the region including al-Qaida.

"We have come across some persons of different nations in the region" during operations against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, ministry spokesman Kehelna Rambukwella told a briefing in which he was assisted by senior army officials and naval commanders.

The comprehensive briefing on "countering terrorism in Sri Lanka" was arranged for local and foreign reporters on the eve of a summit of eight South Asian nations, which is expected to be dominated by the member countries' concerns over the growing wave of terrorism in the region.

Rambukwella described the LTTE as "one of the most ruthless terrorist organizations" and called for cooperation among the regional countries in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation to fight the group.

"The whole SAARC region is impacted by terrorism. Some positive steps would be taken by the 15th SARRC summit," he said.

SAARC comprises Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Afghanistan. Several of its members, particularly Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, are suffering from international and regional terrorist organizations.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai will be attending the summit for the first time since his country became a member of the SAARC.

Read more,
http://calibre.mworld.com/m/m.w?lp=GetStory&id=316037571

Defence deal offered to Lanka

Pakistan, a key supplier of small arms to Sri Lanka, has proposed a defence pact to boost military cooperation between the two countries, Pakistani officials said Friday.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi made the offer to his Sri Lankan counterpart Rohitha Bogollegama on the sidelines of a South Asian meeting in Colombo, the officials said. “A (draft) defence cooperation agreement has been given to Sri Lanka,” said a senior Pakistani official who did not wish to be named.

India has been uneasy about the growing military clout of its arch-rival Pakistan in Sri Lanka, which New Delhi regards as being within its sphere of geo-political influence.

Islamabad is already an important supplier of small arms and ammunition to Sri Lankan security forces, who are battling separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, and Pakistan is also training a large number of Sri Lankan military personnel.

Indian diplomats have privately raised concerns about closer defence ties between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, which also buys military hardware from China and Israel as well as from former Soviet Union states.

“We want Sri Lanka to quickly move on that (the draft agreement),” the Pakistan diplomatic official said, adding the pact was intended to bring the two sides closer. There was no immediate comment from Sri Lankan authorities on the Pakistani proposal. Details of the defence pact offer were not immediately available.

Read more,
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online

Arrested LTTE man came for recruitment

Thambi Anna alias Thambi Ilamkathir alias Daniel (46), a key Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) procurement agent who was picked up in Chennai by the Q Branch police on Wednesday, had come to recruit more suppliers for his network, police said on Thursday.

According to police sources, Thambi Anna was a close associate of Soosai, the head of 'Sea Tigers' , the LTTE's naval arm and a top ranking guerrilla leader. "Thambi Anna was appointed chief of a procurement module in 2006 by Soosai. He has been coordinating all major smuggling operations between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka since then," a senior police official said.

Significantly, Thambi had so far managed to run the show for the LTTE without ever visiting Tamil Nadu. He was arrested on what is believed to be his first visit to the state. He made the trip he was desperate to keep the supply lines alive in the wake of a crackdown by the state police and interdiction at sea by the island's navy, the official said.

"We are intercepting their consignments almost every day. This has significantly reduced the LTTE's supplies. As they can't afford to let this situation continue, there may have been pressure on him to boost the supply mechanism ," another official said.


Read more,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/

Tigers shift smuggling base from TN to Kerala

Tamil Nadu Police Chief K. P. Jain was quoted by the Indian Express (IE) yesterday as having said that the LTTE had shifted its smuggling base from Tamil Nadu to Kerala due to strict vigilance along the Tamil Nadu coast and continuous monitoring of LTTE sympathisers in the State.

Jain, the IE said, had pointed to the arrest of a sea tiger, Daniel alias Tambianna of Kilinochchi, who had used Kochi and Tiruvananthapuram coast for building their boats.

The IE report said:

Recalling that police seized a boat built by the LTTE at Munambam near Kochi for smuggling, a senior police officer told The Indian Express that the Tigers used Kochi and Tiruvananthapuram coasts for building their boats.

The two states are not engaged in any joint operations to curb LTTE activities, the senior police officer said adding that the Tigers used Maldives as well due to its proximity to North Sri Lanka.

Read more,
http://www.island.lk/2008/08/02/news23.html

Kattankudy Muslims Commemorate Tiger Massacres in Mosques & Eravur

TERRORISM KNOWS no religious sanctity, nor does it care for lives of infants, children, women, and clergy or for that matter, anybody else. This was once again proved exactly eighteen years ago when Tiger terrorists cold-bloodedly butchered 147 Muslim devotees, praying in mosques in the pre-dominantly Muslim town of Kattankudy, Batticaloa in the east.

The horror night (3rd August 1990) massacre at Kattankudy that shook the nation and drew worldwide condemnation was meticulously pre-planned and executed in secrecy by Tiger terrorists who had disguised themselves as Muslim prayers and entered famous Meera Jumma and Husseinia mosques at around 8.10 p.m. when hundreds of devotees were attending Friday Isha prayers.

Disguised terrorists armed with automatic weapons crossed the lagoon and entered Kattankudy city, about 224 km east of Colombo on that fateful night, with the determined intention of committing this horrendous genocide for ethnic-cleansing.

Read more,
http://www.army.lk/morenews.php?id=14905

Nepal, Sri Lanka to co-develop Buddha's birthplace

Sri Lanka and Nepal agreed on Friday to develop Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, as the most attractive and sacred tourist destination in the South Asia region during talks between the leaders of the two countries.

Sri Lanka's Department of Government Information said in a statement that this was decided when Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa met Nepal's Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.

Koirala arrived in the island on Friday to take part in the 15th SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) summit to be held on Saturday and Sunday in Colombo.

"President Mahinda Rajapaksa pointed out that he had made this proposal many years ago when he was only a member of parliament," said the statement.

Koirala briefed Rajapaksa on the development of the Lumbini Airport and its importance in developing tourism in the area.

Read more,
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-08/01/content_8903529.htm