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