Lankan army suffers further reverses, claims LTTE

Lankan army suffers further reverses, claims LTTE
UNITED NEWS OF INDIA

Colombo, april 30: The Sri Lankan Army suffered yet another debacle on Sunday when Tamil guerillas overran its massive military base at Pallai, about 15 km north of Elephant Pass, the LTTE said.

The LTTE said the Lankan Army suffered heavy casualties in the nearly 12-hour battle, but there was no reaction from the Government to the claim as yet. With the fall of Palli town and its surrounding villages, the Tigers had secured a strong foothold in the Thenmarachchi division of the peninsula, facilitating their advance towards Jaffna, an LTTE statement issued from its London office said.

The LTTE said it won the well-fortified and strategically crucial garrison town at around 6 pm after its cadre stormed the military base and destroyed several `mini-camps' and the heavily guarded artillery base.

The Tigers said they were now occupying the A-9 Highway at Muhamali, bringing a large track of territory in Thenmarachchi under their control.

Earlier in the day, the Lankan army said it was preparing to hold on to the new defence line north of Elephant Pass and replenish its equipment to prevent the LTTE from further advancing into the Jaffna pensinsula.

The LTTE had wrested the Elephant Pass garrison, considered the doorstep of Jaffna, on April 22.

Meanwhile, military sources said their immediate concern was the defence of Jaffna and the rest of the peninsula under Sri Lankan control.

Military sources said the Sri Lankan army is being geared up to hold onto the new defence line north of Elephant Pass and replenish its equipment to prevent the LTTE from further advancing into the Jaffna pensinsula.

Sources said all retired service personnel grouped in the army regular reserve have been recalled into service in a move to mobilise experienced soldiers. All military resources will be concentrated on the defence of Jaffna city and the critical main base of Pallaly-Velvetiturai.

The newly appointed chief of defence staff Lt Gen Rohan Daluwatte said, "All possible arrangements have been made to bring the situation back to normal after the recent setback in Elephant Pass."

Lt Gen Daluwatta, a former army commander acknowledged that the armed forces faced "a difficult situation'' at present. The recall of reservists would bring in experienced officers and men. Asked about the prospects of a major counter-offensive to recover lost territory, he said, "We have to wait for sometime before doing something. Securing Jaffna is the most important task.''

Meanwhile, the Government has initiated a multi-billion rupee programme to re-equip the security forces as part of its modernisation move and to make up for losses during the recent military set-back. Officials headed by Defence Secretary Chandrananda de Silva have begun meeting arms manufacturers' representatives from Russia, Britain, Pakistan, Iran, Czech Republic, Israel and Singapore. These procurements come in the backdrop of President Chandrika Kumaratunga's pledge to the nation on Friday night that she would continue the war effort to militarily weaken the LTTE.

Meanwhile, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ravinath Ariyasinghe is understood to have been relieved of his duties, temporarily.

Quoting a senior official of the Foreign Ministry, the Sunday Times reported that Ariyasinghe who is currently on a three-month study leave has been relieved with immediate effect of all duties with regard to media division of the Ministry.

The reason of the action against him has been for giving instructions to his assistant in Colombo to release a circular to all diplomatic missions here, giving details fo the fighting at Elephant Pass with a map of the Jaffna peninsula annexed to the circular.

The circular had indicated the troops were consolidating to new forward defence lines after withdrawal.