Lankan army launches assault on major Tiger base

Lankan army launches assault on major Tiger base
REUTERS

JAN 16: Government troops, backed by MiG-27 bombers and artillery, began an assault at dawn Tuesday to retake a major Tamil Tiger rebel bastion in the northern Jaffna Peninsula, the military said.

Two soldiers and one civilian were killed and 26 soldiers were wounded in the first three hours of fighting, said military spokesman Brig. Sanath Karunaratne.

He did not give any rebel casualty figures, but said several civilians, caught in the crossfire, were wounded.

The rebels made no comment on the fighting.

Using tanks, heavy artillery and MiG-27 aircraft the army moved toward the strategic, rebel-held Elephant Pass, which connects the Jaffna Peninsula with the mainland.

The loss of Elephant Pass last year was seen as the army's worst defeat in the 17-year separatist war.

"We have started moving southwards and we have reached the first defense lines of the terrorists," Karunaratne said. "The operation is progressing well, but I am unable to give any other details."

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have been fighting since 1983 to separate the Tamil-minority regions of the north and east from Sri Lanka, whose population is predominantly Sinhalese.

The militants had taken control of Elephant Pass during an offensive in April that brought them to the outskirts of Jaffna, the main city on the peninsula and the center of Tamil culture.

The military halted the guerrilla offensive and has been steadily pushing them back with the help of new aircraft and guns that forced a 40 percent increase in defense spending last year.

The first army offensive of the year was aimed at expanding the area the government controls, the military said in a statement. "Artillery is providing close support, whilst the air force is engaging the identified LTTE targets in the rear area."

"The LTTE is using artillery and mortar fire extensively to hinder the advance of the troops," the military said.

The rebels started a month-long unilateral cease-fire on Christmas Eve, calling it a goodwill gesture to help a Norwegian-brokered peace initiative, but the government declined to reciprocate, saying it was a rebel plot to regroup.

The government invoked tough emergency regulations this week to ban a planned demonstration in Jaffna city by university students who want the government to hold peace talks with the Tamil Tigers.

Nine students of Jaffna University, a hotbed of Tamil politics, were arrested Monday after they were found putting up posters in support of the demonstration they had planned for Wednesday, government spokesman Ariya Rubasinghe said in Colombo.

The emergency regulations, in force almost continually since the Tamil separatist war started, give the police and military wide powers to search, arrest and detain anyone thought to be even trying to disturb peace.

"We will not allow the demonstration for the simple reason that it will disturb peace, as we are worried that terrorist elements will infiltrate," Maj. Gen. Anton Wijendra, security forces commander in Jaffna told reporters there on Monday. In an unrelated, but significant development, police in tea-growing central Sri Lanka arrested 14 Tamils, including five women, on suspicion of having links with the Tamil Tigers, police said. The arrests were made late Monday night in the hill town of Bandarawela, 197 km east of Colombo.