COLOMBO: Sri Lankan troops yesterday captured three more strategic towns from Tamil Tiger rebels following fierce fighting in the north of the island, the army chief said.
The latest advances capped three days of psychologically important gains for government troops, who have been battling the rebels for more than 35 years and who last controlled some of the territory captured yesterday a decade ago.
Security forces entered the town of Mankulam, about 30 kilometers south of the de facto Tamil Tiger political capital of Kilinochchi, after intense battles with the rebels, army Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka said.
“We have taken complete control over Mankulam after three days of heavy fighting,” Fonseka said on state television.
“We have inflicted heavy losses on the terrorists.” He did not say if there were casualties among security forces.
Fonseka noted that security forces had lost control over Mankulam a decade ago in the face of rebel attacks. Following the recapture of Mankulam, troops also took the nearby town of Pannikankulam, along the main highway that runs through the rebel political capital of Kilinochchi further to the north.
Government troops battling to dismantle the rebels’ mini-state also seized Kumalamunai, a town just south of the key Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) base of Mullaittivu, situated on the northeast coast.
“This morning we also captured Kumalamunai in Mullaittivu district,” Defense Ministry spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told AFP.
Helicopter gunships were deployed to attack suspected Tamil Tiger targets and to support ground troops advancing on the guerrillas along a broad front in the north, the Defense Ministry said.
