We are now quite close to Kilinochchi - Army Chief

Army Commander Lt. General Sarath Fonseka yesterday said that Kilinochchi will certainly be the next target of the Security Forces as all the gates were opened for Wanni and Kilinochchi liberation with the regaining of Thunukkai and Uyilankulam, two of the most tactically important towns west of Mullaitivu district.

“Mallavi located just two kilometres east of Thunukkai will also fall very soon with the capture of Thunukkai,” Army Commander Lt. General Fonseka told the Daily News last night.

Currently troops are operating just two Kilometres southwest of Mallavi. Thunukkai and Mallavi are among the most favoured hideouts of the Tiger leader Prabhakaran as these two towns provide much needed luxurious facilities for his clandestine life.

“The Security Forces will be in a much advantageous position in the Wanni liberation once we capture both Thunukkai and Mallavi towns. Troops can either move towards Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi or towards Omanthai,” the Commander added.

The Army Commander said the Security Forces have so far have performed exceptionally well in the liberation of Wanni and the North and added that they will be able to achieve the next steps of liberation of the North very soon fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of the Government and also of patriotic citizens.

Extracted from,
http://www.dailynews.lk/2008/08/23/sec03.asp

Holy Madhu Statue Returns; Army Takes over Renovations to the Shrine

MANNAR: THE MOST SACRED STATUE of Our Lady of MADHU which was taken away by Catholic Priests attached to the MANNAR diocese several months ago was brought back to MANNAR Bishop House Tuesday (22) across OMANTHE Entry / Exit point.

Removal of the Holy Statue and its arrival in a church in WELLANKULAM, further north of MANNAR, caused concerns among the Catholic faith and all Sri Lankans at that point of time.

The MADHU church premises was recaptured from grips of Tiger terrorism after laps of ten years on 25th April 2008 but Tiger terrorists after straying into the premises went on pounding the holy compound in order to chase the troops away.

Terrorists caused damages to a section of the church buildings where priests used to live.

The Holy Statue is to be placed back in its original position at the MADHU shrine once the renovations of the LTTE-damaged buildings are completed. Sri Lanka Army has undertaken repairs and renovations which cost around Rs 1.5 million following a directive given by Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka.

Troops in the meantime have intensified their humanitarian de-mining work in and around the compound in order to completely clear the area before the Holy Statue is returned to the MADHU shrine.

The holy annual feast is expected in August this year.

Extracted from,
MCNS
Video,
SLRC

Two-thirds of LTTE manpower lost: Sri Lankan Army Chief

Claiming that nearly two-thirds of the LTTE manpower and land area have been lost, Sri Lankan Army chief Sarath Fonseka has said the security forces were moving in swiftly in the war with the rebels, forcing them even to abandon their vehicles.

"The LTTE has now lost nearly two thirds of its manpower and land area to the security forces...," Fonseka said.

"The LTTE capability-wise has got depleted to a larger extent. Areas will start collapsing at one stage, now their strength is getting depleted and they have started to leave their vehicles behind.

"In the last one week we recovered three LTTE vehicles. I don't think the Army had ever recovered LTTE vehicles in the past," he said yesterday in Kandy, about 115 kms from Colombo.

The Army Commander made the remarks after paying homage to the Sacred Tooth Relic at the Sri Dalada Maligawa and visiting the Buddhist religious leaders Malwatte and Asgiriya Prelates to receive their blessings.

Read more,
http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=456548&sid=SAS
and
http://www.itn.lk/news_03_20080719.html

Fall of Sea Tiger base imminent

Fierce fighting continued yesterday south and east of Vidathalthivu as the 58 Division troops and Commando troops surrounded the biggest Sea Tiger base on the Western coast, in North Mannar as the LTTE cadres struggled to defend this tactically important Sea Tiger Base which they controlled for the last two decades.

The troops continued the military thrust on the Sea Tiger base surrounding it from the south and west directions and cutting off all supply routes leading to Vidathalthivu, ground sources told the Daily News last night.

“The LTTE had vacated some locations in Vidathalthivu by last evening as they felt the area was being surrounded by the troops,” Army Commander Lt. General Sarath Fonseka told the Daily News.

The Army Commander was confident that the entire Sea Tiger base would fall to the troops by Wednesday afternoon.

The troops attached to 58 Division engaged in a major thrust on the Vidathalthivu Sea Tiger base from the south while Commando troops supported by infantry troops attached to the 582 Brigade advanced into the area from the Eastern direction.

Ground sources also said that many Tiger cadres started fleeing further north of Vidathalthivu after loading their belongings into trucks as troops advanced into the territory.

Read more,
http://www.dailynews.lk/2008/07/16/sec02.asp

Sri Lanka army chief says just a year needed to finish Tigers

Sri Lanka's army chief said Monday his forces had wiped out the military capability of the Tamil Tigers, and that they needed just one more year to totally defeat the rebels.

Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrillas had been forced to resort to hit-and-run attacks.

"From about the beginning of the year, the LTTE has lost its conventional capability," Fonseka told Colombo-based foreign correspondents. "They are no longer fighting as a conventional army."

He said the Tigers were not using heavy artillery and mortars, but that there were clashes in the island's embattled northern areas on a daily basis.

"We have already defeated them (as a conventional army). They have lost that capability. Although they are fighting with us, it is not in the same manner."

"Earlier, we couldn't move one kilometre for two, three months. That type of resistance is not there any more."

He estimated that the Tigers would lose even their current reduced capability in about a year but he cautioned that a Tigers' insurgency could rumble on indefinitely

The Tamil Tigers still have a few fixed-wing planes and a formidable sea going capability, a rarity for any guerrilla outfit in the world.

Led by 53-year-old Velupillai Prabhakaran, the LTTE also has a band of suicide bombers known for their spectacular strikes, including a damaging attack on the island's only international airport in July 2001.

Read more,
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gXx0b_qgX1p9cPSse6ru-KuSbIzg

Lankan army threatening to catch LTTE chief

The Sri Lankan army now wants to do what the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) could not 20 years ago, namely, storm the LTTE’s nerve centre in the Mullaitivu jungles in north-eastern Sri Lanka, and neutralize the rebel chieftain, Velupillai Prabhakaran.

Army Commander Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka told the Sinhalese language daily Dinamina that four divisions and a special task force were poised to storm the defenses of the LTTE in Mullaitivu; and that Prabhakaran’s HQ code-named “Base One Four” was just 21 km away.

Before long, Prabhakaran would be captured alive, he said. The idea of going straight for Prabhakaran is based on the belief that if the LTTE is decapitated, it will collapse like a house of cards.

Fonseka said the LTTE was being attacked simultaneously from four corners and that the thinly stretched rebels were suffering an unacceptable level of attrition. Their losses cannot be recompensed, because of a land and naval blockade, he contended.

According to the state-owned Daily News, the Sri Lankan forces are going to secure the coastline to deny the Tigers reinforcements.

Read more,
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?

Troops advance rapidly on Welioya front : Fonseka

A confident army chief Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka yesterday said his troops on the Welioya front were making rapid progress.

The 59 Division on the offensive on the Vanni East had been able to gradually turn the battle to its advantage after a series of major engagements in the general area north of Janakapura, Fonseka said.

"We have advanced almost seven kilometres into the enemy-held territory," he told The Sunday Island, expressing confidence the army could sustain the existing pressure on the LTTE.

Fielding questions, he dismissed the perception that the 59 Division was on the offensive on a thin front. "The Welioya front in 14 kilometres wide and we have enough men and material to push ahead despite resistance," he said.

Contrary to reports, the jungle terrain had been to the army’s advantage and the 59 Division had skilfully overwhelmed the enemy formations which included some of their best fighting units.

Fonseka said the enemy had cleared some jungle areas ahead of the army front line on the Welioya front as they believed it would be advantageous to confront the army in the open.

Read more,
http://www.island.lk/2008/06/08/news2.html

Sri Lanka's SOS to Pakistan for urgent arms supplies

Faced with stiff resistance from Tamil Tiger guerrillas, Sri Lanka has ordered emergency military supplies from Pakistan, according to official sources here.

In a development noted with some concern by the Indian establishment, the Sri Lanka Army has sought 150,000 rounds of 60 mm mortar ammunition and as many hand grenades for immediate delivery, the sources said.

Sri Lanka has also requested $25 million worth of 81 mm, 120 mm and 130 mm mortar ammunition to be delivered within a month, the sources told IANS.

General Sarath Fonseka, the Sri Lankan army chief who spent six days in India last month, has conveyed the requirements to his Pakistani counterpart, General Ashraf Pervez Kayani, said the sources.

Read more,
http://www.indiaenews.com/srilanka/20080402/108257.htm

LTTE lashes out at India for hosting Lankan army chief

The LTTE has criticised India for hosting the Sri Lankan army chief despite the scrapping of a 2002 ceasefire by Colombo, saying such moves will "reinvigorate" the island's military which was carrying out "ethnic genocide" against Tamils.

In a statement circulated here, LTTE said it "strongly condemns" India extending a "state welcome" to the military chief Maj Gen Sarath Fonseka of the "Sinhala State" which has "unilaterally abrogated the ceasefire agreement and has launched widespread military offensives in Tamil homeland."

Despite condemnation of its attempt to seek a military solution, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam alleged that Sri Lanka is continuing its "enormous human rights violations".

Many of the European countries now understand its "hidden motive" and have halted all assistance, it added.

"The Indian State also knows this truth. Yet, while pronouncing that a solution to the Tamil problem must be found through peaceful means, it is giving encouragement to the military approach of the Sinhala State. This can only lead to the intensification of the genocide of the Tamils," it said.

Read more,
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200803111654.htm

Sri Lanka rebel chief could be dead in 6 months - army

Sri Lanka's army chief said the leader of the country's Tamil Tiger rebels could be dead within six months and the military's aim is to kill 10 rebels a day, a newspaper report said on Sunday.

Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka was quoted by the state-run weekend paper Sunday Observer as saying the security forces have occupied Tamil Tiger forward defence lines and surrounded the northern rebel held Wanni rebel base.

"The LTTE could not prevent losing their remaining 3,000 cadres and there is no assurance that the LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran would survive for the next six months as the Sri Lanka Air Force plans to attack all the LTTE bases," Fonseka said.

The full name for the rebels is Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

"Our daily target is to kill at least 10 LTTE terrorists and for the last few months over 500 LTTE ... have been killed by the armed forces," Fonseka said.

Read more,
http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-31173820071230

Commander Takes Stock of Security in Welioya & Wanni

Commander of The Army Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka during his Friday (7) visit to Welioya and Wanni discussed security measures at length when he met senior military officers.

His visit to the Welioya sector, in the north east of Vavuniya comes on the heels of Kebithigollewa bus blast and a series of successful flush-out operations that eliminated scores of Tiger terrorists.

On his arrival Commander Security Forces Wanni Major General Jagath Jayasuriya received the visiting chief and conducted him to address Commanders of Divisions and Brigades that come under Vavuniya Security Forces Headquarters.

Read more,
http://army.lk/morenewsfet.php?id=3086

Army chief rings alarm bells in LTTE camps

Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, whose service was extended recently, in an interview told the 'Sunday Observer' that he wants to eradicate terrorism once and for all during his term of office.

The veteran battlefield Commander observed it is only a question of survival for the terrorist as many of their cadres have started abandoning the ship. Following are the excerpts of the interview:

Q: It was reported that the LTTE has strengthened its surveillance in the North by deploying more civilians. Are these civilians paid by the LTTE ?

A: No. They are not paid much but one member from each family have been asked to come forward and may be they are given food and accommodation, because the LTTE does not have money to pay them. The civilians, of course were well paid when the A9 road was opened, as the LTTE earned over Rs. 10 to 15 million a week.

Q: How many LTTE cadres are escaping or abandoning the LTTE now ?

A: Three or four cadres desert the LTTE but they do not come to our side due to difficulties to cross LTTE lines and mine fields. I think if they can cross safely more LTTE cadres would desert the organisation. But everyday more than four terrorists abandon the LTTE.

Read more,
http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2007/09/30/fea01.asp