Military items recovered in Batticaloa and Mullaittivu

During a search operation conducted by Sri Lanka army 232 Brigade recovered next armed items in Ilukkuweddai yesterday 11.
Items Quantity
Shot guns 04
Shot gun Ammo 04
82/2 Hand Grenades 02
231 Brigade recovered 1 x Hand Grenade and 2Kg of Explosives in General area Kahawattamunai on the same day.
Meanwhile Police particular Task Force Troops recovered 113 x 120 Motor Bombs throughout a search procedure conducted in General area Tharavikulama and also in General region Alanchipothana Village Police recovered 1x T- 56 Weapon yesterday (11).
In Mullaittvu General area Puthukudiyiruppu Special Force Troops recovered 3x T- 56 Mark 1 Weapon and 2x T-56 Mark 11 weapons. Meanwhile job Force 3 Troops recovered 1x 81 mm Mortar Bomb in General area Ampakamam , Task Force 5 Troops recovered 1042 x 7.62x 39 mm Ammo and 9x SFG 82 Hand Grenades in General area Kalavankulam and Task Force 2 troops healthier 1x Pencil Shooter and 110 x .22 Ammo in General area Puthukudiyiruppu.
Troops of Task power 8 also recovered following war like matter in General area Sugandhipuram and Puthukudiyiruppu West.
Items Quantity
Boat Engines 04
60 mm Mortar Bomb Chargers 16
7.62x39 mm Ammo 69
MPMG Links 04
Hand Grenades 04
RPG Bomb 01
81 mm Mortar Bombs 02
7.62 X 51 MM AMMO 976
in the meantime the Task Force 8 Troops recovered following in universal area in Puthukudiyiruppu East yesterday August (11).
Items Quantity
1100 Mobile Phones 07
1100 Phone Batteries 06
7.62 x 39 mm Ammo Boxes 06
RPG Bombs 03
National IDs 29
ID of TELO Organization 1
LTTE IDs 2
Code Sheet File 1
Mobile Phone Antenna 1
Mobile Receiver 1
T-56 Weapon 05
T- 56 Magazines 12
TV Antenna 1
7.62 x 54Ammo 275
0.30 Ammo 500
7.62x 51 Ammo 976
60 mm Mortar Bomb 15
81 mm Mortar Bomb 6
Pistols 5
Pistol Magazines 5
I Com Radio Sets 3
I Com Chargers 1
GPS 1

Successive blows at retreating terrorists at Ampakamam, 5 bodies recovered- Mullaittivu

Troops of the Task Force - 3 in service in the outer perimeters of Ampakamam universal area, trail down a group of terrorists on the retreat allegedly killing over a dozen, while getting better 5 bodies and more than a few military hardware, yesterday (Dec 16) at around 5.30 p.m.
The infantrymen of the 16 Gajaba Regiment (GR) under the 632 group sped after the run away terrorists good-looking them in bitter fighting, also in receiving of better a multi-cause machine gun (MPMG) and 3 T-56 assault riffles.
Ampakamam village was bring under total military preeminence on Monday (Dec 15) following hours long strong firing connections between troops and LTTE terrorists, safety sources said.

Vidattaltivu Liberated; terrorists suffer fatal blow [Updated]

Gallant soldiers of Army Task Force 1 and Commando Brigade operating on the Mannar warfront liberated the strategically important Vidattaltivu town this morning (July 16). Vidattaltivu is the largest town situated on the North- Western coast of the Island, 20 km North of Mannar and used by the terrorists as their main Sea-Tiger base cum logistic hub in the West.

Soldiers of Task Force 1 on Tuesday evening (July15) commenced their forward march from their initial locations at the Southern limits of Vidattaltivu town, i.e. few hundreds meters short of Vidattaltivu terror defence, located 2 Km South of the town. These troops were able to capture a 2.5km stretch of the LTTE Forward Defence by late in the evening .

Unable to withstand the military onslaught, terrorists started to flee further northwards towards and later suffered heavy damages during their withdrawal as the elite commandos flanking in the Northeastern boundaries of Vidattaltivu laid an ambush on them. The commandos confronted with a group of approximately 60 LTTE cadres around 1.45 p.m. As the terrorist started to withdraw towards Iluppaikkadaval , North of Vidattaltivu ; commandos called in indirect fire. As a result, heavy artillery and multi barrel rocket fire were directed at the terrorists. Also , Air Force launched close air support missions to ground troops using MI 24 helicopter gunships. Ground troops claimed over 30 terrorists were killed due to artillery and air assault while the rest turned tail.

Meanwhile, troops approaching from the East of Vidattaltivu cut off the Mannar - Poonaryn road at a location 2 Km North of Vidattaltivu early this morning, besetting the terror stronghold from the South, East and the North. Later, troops marched into the town and declared the area liberated for the first time since 1987.

Sources at the battlefield said that the soldiers approached from South had to cross a strong LTTE defence built on a 7 feet tall earth bump with a deep ditch in front of it, before they entered into the Vidattaltivu town limits. This defence cut across the Mannar- Poonaryn road, 2 Km South of Vidattaltivu and ran 10 Km from the coast to Paramarayankulama, situated 8 Km South East of Vidattaltivu . At that, the defence was consisted with fortified bunkers made out of thick wooden logs at every 150m distances.

Following the successful capture of the Mannar 'Rice Bowl' troops within 24 hours commenced their march towards Vidattaltivu . Troops halted 200m South of the above-mentioned strong LTTE defence and waited until the new front opened up by the 582 brigade of the Task Force-1 and the commandos to make their approach from the East. This new front opened up 10 Km East of Vidattaltivu managed to reach Mannar - Poonaryn road North of Vidattaltivu within one week.

While conquering the strong defence line of the LTTE in the South, troops braved dense mine fields removing hundreds of anti personnel mines, improvised explosive devices and booby traps. During last 10 days, troops expecting to bring up on maximum attrition rate over the terrorists attacked and destroy a large number of bunkers situated along the LTTE defence. According to the ground and radio monitoring sources at least 100 LTTE cadres were killed and equal number or more were wounded during these confrontations. Also, commandos alone found 28 bodies of slain LTTE cadres during this period.

Commander of Task Force 1 , Brigadier Shavendra Silva speaking to Defence.lk said that this was the first time that the Army dominated Vidattaltivu area after 21 years . Not even during major military operations such as Ranagosa and Jayasikuru , army had been able cross the strong LTTE defence that runs over 10 km East from the Southern coast of Vidattaltivu, he added.

Meanwhile, Defence observers are in the view that the loss of Vidattaltivu would cast a fatal blow on LTTE as it has lost the most important Sea-Tiger base in the present context. According to them the terrorists has no other option than to shift their Sea-Tiger assets to a makeshift camp further Northwards with the loss of its well-established sea borne operational base.

Following its loss of 10 arms carrying ships to Sri Lanka Navy, and the loss of land domination over Eastern coast to army and also due to the strong sea blockade maintained by navy in the North-Eastern waters , the only available sea supply route for the LTTE has been identified as the one across the Gulf of Mannar. Presence of large amount of Indian fishing vessels and less maneuverability available for the navy ships in the coastal waters over the shallow continental shelf have made it virtually impossible to ensure complete denial of enemy use of sea lines of communication. Therefore, the loss of Vidattaltivu, the best geographical location in the North-West coast for Sea Tiger operations will be a huge loss to the terrorists than it is really depicted in terms of square kilometers, defence observers added.
Related News >>
Vidattaltivu Liberated; terrorists suffer fatal blow