Sunday 15 March 2009

Sunday Column –Puthukuduriyuppu (PTK) battle intensifying

Progress at PTK

Troops of the 58th Division, led by Brigadier Shavendra Silva are making steady progress in clearing Puthukudriyuppu town. The PTK town’s main street is said to be over 14kms long, the buildings are heavily booby trapped, and the remaining LTTE cadres holed up in these buildings are directing heavy and rapid fire towards the advancing troops, hence the troops are being extra cautious in liberating the town. The 58th’s task is made even more difficult as the LTTE is able to rely on artillery support launched from the safe zone. Troops captured PTK hospital last week, the hospital was turned into a well fortified bunker by the tigers and used as a launching pad for attacks against 58th Division troops. The battle for the PTK hospital was to date the fiercest urban battle seen in Sri Lanka’s history, troops had to clear the hospital room by room before declaring it captured. Even after PTK hospital was captured, the tigers launched wave after wave of counter attacks which were all successfully repulsed. PTK hospital was used as the main ‘mahavir’ hospital by the LTTE and is said to have included high profile leaders such as Balraj as its patients. The tigers completely ransacked the hospital before fleeing it. Troops are now making steady progress into PTK town and have cleared around 5kms of the town, its only a matter of days till PTK is declared liberated.

LTTE Civil Defense Forces turn against their masters

Last week at PTK, a group of around 60 civilians who received arms training from the LTTE came to face the SLA. Ten of the civilians were leading the group and around 12 regular cadres later joined them. Once the group reached the SLA FDL they came to their senses and realized that they are simply being led to slaughter, the civilian forces turned on the regular cadres, killed all 12 of them, and surrendered to the army along with their weapons. Although this news is a major propaganda coup to the SLA, they are not giving publicity to this episode due to safety concerns for the families of these surrendered civilians.

SLAF carries out precision air strikes

It is no secret that the LTTE is taking cover among the civilians trapped in the safe zone. The SLA has NOT fired any artillery or MBRLs into the safe zone and the SLAF has NOT carried out indiscriminate bombings against the civilians, any news to the contrary is malicious propaganda carried out by the pro-LTTE press and their minions. LTTE movements in the safe zone have been captured on film both by ground troops and from the air. In the past week, SLAF carried out around 12 precision air strikes against leader hideouts that were identified by UAV and Beechcraft surveillance. The SLAF used newly acquired precision air-to-surface missiles for these missions. The LTTE leaders are spread out in the safe zone and Iranapalai, after PTK the next major target for the SLA is Iranapalai. Troops are already 400m from the safe zone and it’s only a matter of time till the Special Forces enter this zone and secure an escape path to these civilians.

Troop and goods movement continue along the A9

Although some LTTE DPU cadres have infiltrated areas along the A9 (as reported last week), this has not put off troop and goods movement along the A9. The A9 is now being regularly used by the SLA and by civilian goods transport. Last week a consignment of local goods from Jaffna arrived in Colombo for the first time since CFA days.

The SLA is able to finish off the LTTE in a matter of 48 hours if not for the civilian factor. Due to the concern for civilians, the final battle is prolonged.

EFT

13 comments:

Gayan said...

Excellent status report,
Keep up the good work!

shrikharan said...

hsfdgbn

Isuru said...

tnx for giving us some update at least.

දේශපාලුවා said...

Complete and Utter Irresponsibility Shown by UN-HCHR Head Navanethem (Navi) Pillay

Please read my blog

http://dheshapaluwa.blogspot.com/

දේශපාලුවා said...

dheshapaluwa.blogspot.com

Sam Perera said...

Mahen,

"PTK town’s main street is said to be over 14kms long, the buildings are heavily booby trapped"

I hope that you are intelligent enough to read a map and scale the distance from point A to point B/

ඉයන් said...

Thank you, Mahen

Unknown said...

Stupid Sri Lankan fools. When you country cannot provide jobs for you, you get swindled.

Anyway Theyvendran is the head of the Singapore Ceylon tamils association. He was also head of the Ceylon sports club and eelam run temple of sengapa vinayar.


http://jobs.classifieds1000.com/Sri_Lanka/Resume/WORK_PERMIT_JOB_PR_STATUS_IN_CANADA_WORLD

Training, job, PR status...all lies

More foreign students complain of false promises by recruiters

By Mavis Toh


An advertisement in a Sri Lankan newspaper caught Mr Rohan Rubera's eye. In bold print, it read: 'STUDY & JOB TRAINING'.


It listed six diploma courses run by private schools in Singapore.

Mr Rohan, 45, called the telephone number listed.

A recruitment agent told him if he signed up for a six-month casino management course in Singapore, priced at $8,000, it would come guaranteed with a six-month training stint with pay in a casino on board a cruise liner.

He paid the agent an initial $4,000, half the fees.

But when he arrived here last October, not only was he told there would be no hands-on casino training, he was also made to share a three-bedroom flat with 17 others.

'At that point, I knew I had been fooled. I was furious,' he said.

He is not alone. The Sri Lanka High Commission has seen at least 100 of its nationals, here on student visas, lodging complaints with it in the last six months.

At the Chinese Embassy, at least 20 students have asked for help each month in the past three years.

Last year, it was reported that 13 Vietnamese students each paid $9,600 to their agents for 'work and study' visas, only to find that the law bars them from working in Singapore. The agent put up all 13 students in a small room.

The Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) received 20 complaints against education agents last year, up from five in 2007 and eight in 2006.

Most of the complaints accused agents of misrepresentation and of misleading claims, such as getting the wrong courses and being told they could work and study here.

Some were even told they could get permanent residency status.

New guidelines in the Private Education Bill to be introduced in Parliament later this year will tighten regulation of the industry here.

The new rules require the 1,200 private schools here to meet certain criteria, including examination boards and information on their finances, teachers and facilities before they can be registered.

There are currently about 99,000 foreign students here.

From The Sunday Times' interviews with affected students, private schools and a former local agent, false promises seem to be the work of rogue agents both here and in the foreign countries.

Last December, the Sri Lanka High Commission here even placed ads in major Sri Lankan newspapers alerting would-be students to 'false promises' by dodgy agents about student life here.

'Students might want to study here as a stepping stone to get jobs here,' said a Sri Lanka High Commission spokesman. 'But what they were told back home and what they see here are different.'

Some private schools here added that despite the current economic recession, agents at overseas education fairs still boldly guarantee job placement to students. But one principal, who declined to be named, said the students' visas do not allow them to work here.

An academic head of a private school, who declined to be named, said that at some private schools, attendance is only half-full as agents had arranged illegal work for those here on the pretext of studying.

'The schools know they'll lose money if they cancelled the student passes so they kept them on the class list,' he said.

A Chinese Embassy spokesman said some agents in China told would-be students they would be enrolled in private schools in Singapore with big campuses, fields and even laboratories. But on arrival, these students ended up in small private schools with only a few rented classrooms in old buildings.

Embassies believe that the number of victims they see is just the tip of the iceberg. Many students have yet to come forward or are unaware of where they can turn to for help. Others have flown home without seeking refunds.

The Sri Lanka High Commission spokesman said: 'Many came from rural areas where their families pawned jewellery and valuables to send them here. They do not know how to tell their parents they were fooled or how to repay the loans.'

Private schools contacted claim they are unaware of promises made by the agents they worked with.

But one former local agent, Mr Billy Ng, 32, said he quit his job last year as he was unhappy with the school he was working for.

He claimed the school had told agents to tell students they would get attachments at big hotels, earning up to $800 monthly. Most of the mainly Malaysian students, he said, decided to enrol with the school only because they were told they could work and study here.

'But they ended up washing dishes illegally for $200 monthly,' said Mr Ng. 'I couldn't stomach the complaints from the students and their irate parents, so I quit.'

Established private schools want the Government to weed out rogue agents. They also hope that the upcoming Private Education Bill will clean up the industry.
Said Management Development Institute of Singapore's secretary-general R. Theyvendran: 'There's a lot of deception in student recruitment by smaller players. This will tarnish Singapore's reputation as an education hub.'

kojakbt@gmail.com

Unknown said...

you know whats shameful and sad about you, you cannot bring legitamacy to yourself without using a tamil name. Thats the problem with you people. Look even the mongroels here still proudly display their fathers name.

onceinawhile said...

Tamilnet caught at it again.....:-D :-D


http://www.defence.lk/english.asp

poor_creature_hurt said...

"you know whats shameful and sad about you, you cannot bring legitamacy to yourself without using a tamil name"

Sri Lankan tamils were generally credible pleople, prior to LTTE.

When LTTE came into being, so many economic refugees (low cast coolies)from other countries (India, South Africa, Malaysia etc) assumed the name "Sri Lankan Tamils" and joined LTTE in its shameful moneymaking through thuggary, drug and weapon smuggling and human trafficing.

So Sri Lankan Tamils lost credibility globally and are defined as terror supporters. But the truth is, majority are not so. Now that LTTE is almost wiped out, SL Tamils have the responsibility to build their lost credibility.

Anyway, through this victory, all Sri Lankans (Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims) create a high global image over ONE nation who defeated terrorism through military might!

Upul said...

complete lies here....moda chena boy.. 14 km ?? any moron knows that is a lie...

Pundeyeelam said...

I like your pic, Upul
It shows the pic of a tiger sunk until the nose. just a bit more the tiger is dead.

I like that pic.