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Troops on the “outskirts” of Kilinochchi

COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan military on Friday claimed to have reached the “outskirts” of Kilinochchi town, the administrative headquarters of the LTTE. The Defence Ministry said troops had reached the northern boundaries of the Kilinochchi built up and started pounding the LTTE strongholds in the Adampan area. It said three LTTE bunkers and a battle trench were destroyed.

The Ministry said the Air Force gunships carried out strikes at two LTTE gatherings near Akkarayankulam tank in Kilinochchi. Air Force spokesperson Janka Nanayakkara said the attacks had been carried out in support of Army 57 division troops at 3 p.m. and maintained that the targets had been effectively engaged.

“The iron grip of terrorism that suppressed Tamil civilians in Wanni for decades is fast loosening and civilians have now started escaping the terror clutches in large numbers.

“39 civilians in two groups have arrived at the Omanthai roadblock seeking protection with armed forces. The first group comprising 15 males and 10 females arrived at the roadblock at 7.50 a.m. The refugees told the officials that they were from Puthukulam and Semaduwa. The second group has arrived at 10.30 a.m. with 7 males and 7 females,” said the Ministry. The pro-LTTE TamilNet charged that the Army in Omanthai, while allowing 56 lorries carrying humanitarian supplies to enter Wanni, denied entry to more than 200 people including Kilinochchi Regional Director of Health Services, Zonal Education Directors of Kilinochchi and Mullathivu, 15 school principals of both districts and Peoples’ Bank manager of Mullathivu.

It further alleged that four ambulances carrying 50 patients who were discharged from Vavuniyaa hospital after treatment to enter Wanni were also denied entry. “When the officials stranded at the Omanthai checkpoint inquired from the SLA [Army] on why the entry is denied they were informed that ‘today is a day that there is no civilian movement to Wanni”, the web site said.

Separately, the government accused the Amnesty International (AI) of failing to present an “objective analysis of the challenges and successes” of the government in addressing the needs of Sri Lankan persons affected by the conflict.

“It’s account is littered with misleading innuendo compounded by outright falsehood and, upon a holistic reading of their report, it becomes clear that the intent of the report is to present a skewed picture unfavourable to the lawfully elected and popularly mandated Government of Sri Lanka,” it said in its response to the AI report of November 19.

With regard to the Amnesty’s demand for international monitoring, the government said the organisation was unaware or was wilfully disregarding the presence of international personnel who have accompanied the consignments of food to uncleared areas.

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