COLOMBO, April 28 – Sri Lankan Army today mounted fresh pressure on the beleaguered Tamil Tigers breaking through their two defensive fortifications in the no-fire zone killing nine rebels as LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran continued to remain elusive, reports PTI. The forces continued their sweep breaching these defences erected to protect the remnants of the LTTE top leadership, a day after government spokesman clarified that there was no ceasefire.
The fortifications had been erected and mined by the Tigers to stop trapped people from fleeing and restrict advancement of the army, a military spokesman said today.
Though the pro-LTTE website Tamilnet accused Sri Lankan troops of using heavy artillery and aircraft to bomb their part of the no-fire zone, spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nayannakkara said that troops were only using light arms and the operations were aimed only to rescue the trapped people.
The government had announced yesterday end of the combat operations and it said it would not use heavy artillery, aircraft and aerial weapons so as not to cause civilian casualties.
The bunds were located South and South-West of Valayanmadam, the last inhabited area held by the Tigers as President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that using force to “eradicate terrorism” was the right of any nation.
Rajapaksa said Sri Lankan forces had completed the historic task of “sweeping terrorism away from our midst.”
“In the past three and a half years we have responded to this (LTTE) challenge in different ways. We tried to have a dialogue and negotiations. That was rejected. We were then compelled to use force, the force that is the right of the State, force that is the only language that the terrorist seemed to understand,” he said at a function here.
The President’s comments came as his military spokesman Nayannakkara said that the earth bunds captured by the troops were meant to protect the tiny strip of land still controlled by LTTE.
Lankan forces also foiled a rebel attempt to send an explosive laden truck for a suicide bombing aimed at the army. The truck exploded short of its target wounding some soldiers. He said the operations were aimed at trying to rescue trapped civilians still being used as human shields by the LTTE.
According to military sources, the remnants of Tamil Tigers, including its top leadership offered stiff resistance before fleeing further South towards Mullivaikkal after the fall of their fortification. ASSAM TRIBUNE
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