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The video shows a group of commandos from the army's 2nd Commando Regiment overrun part of a fortified LTTE bunker line during the Thoppigala offensive. 2nd commando regiment, commanded by major Uditha Bandara, was one of the first army formations to reach the Thoppigala mountain after a 5 month long battle.
Fighter aircraft of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) carried out a bombing raid on a pre identified LTTE safe house in Puthukuduirippu region today noon. The strategic location was identified as an LTTE leader's gathering point.
The targeted base was located in the LTTE stronghold of Mullaithiv, south of Piramanadukulam. It is not yet known if any senior LTTE leaders were present in the base at the time of bombing.
SLAF has seemingly stepped up air strikes on LTTE military installations after the sea battle that took place near Delft island which destroyed a locally made UFAC and damaged an Israeli built Dvora belonging to the 4th Fast Attack Squadron of the Navy. The Air Force has flown consecutive sorties on both days since the sea battle, after being relatively silent in the past two weeks.
Soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) today captured the North Western part of Narikkulam region after a fierce firefight with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who previously controlled the territory. LTTE offered stiff resistance for six hours before the army overran some of the LTTE bunkers in the frontline.
This is the second consecutive day in which fighting was reported in this area. Clashes first erupted when the army tried to overrun the LTTE bunker line in Narikkulam yesterday (26th). The bunker line was not captured yesterday as expected but the objective was met today (27th), after a delay of one day.
Meanwhile the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) warplanes carried out an aerial raid on a LTTE target in Mullaithiv region at 6.10 AM today. The target was a major sea tiger base in Ellamulavaikkal, north of LTTE stronghold of Mullaithiv town. Although the pilots have confirmed accurate hits on the target, LTTE casualty details are not available as of now.
The sea going arm of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) were locked in a fierce battle off the seas south of Delft for nearly two hours from 12.45PM to 2.30PM today (26th). Both parties have suffered heavy casualties in the firefight with SLN losing 1 Dvora vessel and the sea tigers losing 4 of their attack crafts plus two suicide boats.
The battle erupted when the SLN intercepted a suspicious boat movement south of Delft coastline today noon. SLN craft were soon engaging with 14-16 of LTTE's medium sized attack crafts when two explosive laden suicide boats rammed into one of the Dvoras causing a loud explosion. The Israeli built craft was completely destroyed and all personnel on board are feared killed. Another SLN Dvora sustained damages in the incident but it is said to be in repairable condition. LTTE too has lost four of its attack crafts along with cadres on board. This is in addition to the two suicide boats which rammed against the Dvora. Exact damages to LTTE hardware/personnel is not known as of yet as they have so far maintained radio silence since the battle.
Sea tiger boats retreated towards LTTE controlled waters in Nachchikuda region south of Delft after the two hour long firefight. SLAF MI-24 helicopter gunships too were called to the scene to provide fire support and to aid in rescue missions.
A Dvora is usually manned by 12-16 personnel while a LTTE's medium sized attack craft is manned by 8-12 cadres. A suicide boat usually has two black tigers on board.
Even though the Cease fire agreement signed between the GOSL (Government of Sri Lanka) and LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) in 2002 continues to hold on paper, undeclared 4th Eelam war has been raging across four different battlefronts in the northern province.
During the past week, more than 30 LTTE cadres have been killed in a number of firefights along the forward defense lines. The army too has suffered casualties in these confrontations with 5 soldiers killed and a further 14 injured. In contrast to the soaring LTTE casualties, SLA casualties have been minimal due to new battlefield tactics employed under the command of Major General Sarath Fonseka. However, advancing into LTTE held territory has proven difficult due to both severe resistance and heavily mined, booby trapped terrain. Limited operations are still continuing across Mannar and Vavuniya despite these obstacles as their main objective is not territorial gains. According to intelligence reports, LTTE's command bunkers in Mannar and Vavuniya fronts (manned by Jeyam and Bhanu) have been moved 4-5 Kilometers into LTTE held territory after the latest rounds of fighting.
Meanwhile LTTE's senior leadership has further limited public appearances with the recent SLAF bombing on Prabhakaran's safe house. LTTE intelligence leader for Wanni has been replaced by Pottu Amman's orders immediately after the raid. MI has also revealed that LTTE are building more safe houses in civilian populated areas to protect its senior leadership including Sornam, Balraj, Theepan, Soosei and Cheliyan.
Although it may seem unbelievable, latest addition to the LTTE's growing number of troubles has been the torrential rain. According to intelligence reports, a number of LTTE camps including training and logistics bases in the Pooneryn Sector have been damaged due to the floods caused by heavy rain.
Meanwhile with the addition of 30000 troops within this year, the number of divisions in SLA command structure has risen to 13. Three divisions out of these 13 are newly raised offensive formations. Refer to the table below for more details.
| Division | Headquarters | Current Role/Notes |
| 11th | Panagoda | Logistics, training and support staff. |
| 21st | Gajasinghapura | Defensive operations in Eastern province. |
| 22nd | Trincomalee | Defensive operations in Eastern province. |
| 23rd | Welikanda | Defensive operations in Eastern province. |
| 51st | Jaffna | Defensive/search operations in Jaffna town |
| 52nd | Varani | Defensive/search operations. |
| 53rd | Mirusuvil | Elite fighting formation. Deployed as a reserve force to be used in an attack against Jaffna. Sometimes used to attack LTTE FDLs along the national front (Muhamalai/Kilali/Nagarkovil). Mechanized Infantry Division recently added. |
| 54th | - | Not active. Destroyed in the battle for Elephant Pass in 2001. |
| 55th | Muhamalai | Pre emptive strikes on LTTE FDLs in the north. |
| 56th | Kok Eliya | Defensive operations in Northern province including Vavuniya and Omanthai |
| 57th | Vavuniya | Offensive formation. Advancing towards Wanni thorough Thampanai and Vilathikulam. |
| 58th | - | Offensive formation. Division not officially raised. Currently known as Task Force 01. Advancing towards Vidaththalthivu through Adamapan. |
| 59th | Weli Oya | Offensive formation. Pre emptive strikes against LTTE FDL ahead of Weli-Oya. High likelihood to launch an invasion into Wanni through Weli Oya sector. |
On the 16th of this month, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam opened what it said was an Elder's Home in Kilinochchi. Usually, these types of events are inaugurated by LTTE leader Velupillei Prabhakaran. In this instance however, it was his Wife Mathivathani who attended the event (See Photo - Source Tamilnet). With the recent publicity given to the air raid which destroyed part of Prabhakaran's underground bunker, many began to speculate that he did not attend the event due to the injuries received in the incident. Latest Military intelligence reports suggest otherwise.
Apparently, LTTE's intelligence service (TOSSIE) has warned Prabhakaran of a plot to assassinate him in a public meeting by assassins disguised as civilians. As a result of this warning, LTTE leader has avoided attending several public functions recently with the latest one being the Elder's Home opening. It is still not clear if the warning mentioned the army's Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) or a rival faction within/outside the LTTE. LRRP has penetrated deep into LTTE controlled territory and so has intelligence cadres from the breakaway Karuna faction (TMVP).
Meanwhile tension prevailed in Kilinochchi on the 18th when hundreds of civilians staged a protest against a LTTE leader who allegedly raped a 13 year old schoolgirl. The angry mob is said to have damaged several vehicles belonging to the tigers. According to MI, LTTE leader in question and several protestors have been detained by LTTE's de facto police.
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| STF Training |
Special Task Force or the STF is the elite counter terrorist force of the Sri Lanka Police. It was founded in 1983 and by now employs more than 8000 highly trained personnel. After the Tamil Tigers began their campaign for a separate homeland, STF's primary task has been to defend the eastern province from LTTE threats. Their latest counter terrorist operation (Operation Niyathai Jaya) saw the fall of more than 20 mini LTTE camps in the Ampara region.
Note: These photographs are not the property nor the creation of DefenceNet. Full credit goes to original photographer(s) and uploader(s)
Pro LTTE web site http://www.tamilnet.com which has been blocked by all major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Sri Lanka since June 2007, is now once again freely accessible.
Users from Sri Lanka who were trying to view the site on the 17th of June were presented with server timeouts. It was initially suspected that the error was a technical fault with Tamilnet's hosting provider. However,later it was evident that Tamilnet was blocked on government orders. It is doubtful whether the ban had any effect as majority of the users seemed to have found a workaround to in the form of 3rd party proxy servers.
Tamilnet, which has been online since 1997, acts as a major propaganda machine of the the Tamil Tigers. Earlier, it was hosted in Norway but the site has now moved to the United Kingdom. UK based ISP "Rackspace Managed Hosting" acts as its current hosting provider.
Several days ago, an article written by D.B.S Jeyaraj suggested that the LTTE leader received minor injuries in a SLAF Air Strike. However the Sri Lankan military did not issue any statement regarding this incident as ground based intelligence sources had not confirmed the news. So many factors suggested that the story was based on rumors and speculation and was a false lead. However, according to latest intelligence reports, LTTE's seemingly invincible leader is confirmed to have received minor injuries in the said air strike.
The air strike which is said to have caused the injuries involved three Israeli built ground attack aircraft of the 10th fighter squadron. They dropped 12 MK80 Series bombs near Jeyanthi Nagar in Kilinochchi district on the 28th of November. One or more bombs that were dropped had hit the bunker in which the LTTE leader was residing at the time. He received minor injuries to the right shoulder when parts of the underground bunker crumbled upon impact. Although Prabhakaran's injuries were in no way life threatening, he was immediately evacuated to a secret LTTE installation where he was inspected by several doctors who declared the wounds and bruises were nothing of serious nature.
An explosion has occurred 500m away from the Railway station at Kanthale. Unconfirmed reports suggest that a claymore mine has been detonated targeting the Trincomalee-Kandy train. At least One civilian is said to be wounded in the incident. Engine of the train has also been slightly damaged.
