International   

LTTE bunker line breached, says Army

COLOMBO: The Sri Lanka military on Saturday claimed that at least 17 cadres of the LTTE and three soldiers were killed and several others injured in “continuing pre-emptive strikes” along the Forward Defence Lines (FDLs) in the Mannar front in Wanni in the north.

A statement by the Defence Ministry here said that heavy clashes erupted between security forces and LTTE fighters and troops are continuing pre-emptive strikes at terrorist strongholds in Mannar. It said forces have breached the LTTE’s “first bunker” line at Manthai.

The ministry said the troops have been able to destroy the terror bunker line and occupy the area. “Radio monitoring of LTTE transmissions have so far revealed that 9 LTTE cadres have died and 47 others suffered injuries in the attack. The Media Centre for National Security said that three army personnel have been killed and 10 others injured in the incident”.

The statement said that separately, on the Welioya front, troops clashed with terrorists at two locations killing two LTTE cadres. In a pre-dawn attack in Jaffna, troops killed six LTTE cadres who had come to infiltrate the Muhamalai Forward Defence Line. Later, in search operations conducted in the area, troops found one claymore mine, three improvised explosive devices, six anti-personnel mines and one bar mine.

In another development, the ministry in a statement rejected as completely unfounded the allegation by Reporters Sans Frontiers, based in Paris, and other foreign and Sri Lankan organisations, that the air strike on the Voice of Tigers radio station of the LTTE on November 27 was a “war crime”.

The ministry dubbed the charge as a “collective hypocrisy, skilled at distorting facts all the better to legitimise the cause of a terrorist outfit”.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Polls a vote of confidence: Putin
Musharraf warns against agitation during poll process
Looks like one more cancer factor
LTTE bunker line breached, says Army
Shahbaz’s nomination rejected
Iran seeks to head off calls for tougher sanctions
Ethnic Indians are not enemies: Malaysian PM
Making life light for the polio-affected in Thailand
No external interference: Hamid Albar

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu