Sri Lanka Government to open up A-32 Road

One of the main objectives of the present liberation operation in the North is to find an alternate land route for the people of the Jaffna Peninsula to travel down to the South and other parts of the country. Government spokesman expressed optimism that the LTTE controlled Pooneryn in Kilinochchi district is expected to fall soon and A 32 Road will be opened up for the people of the Jaffna peninsula to travel up and down to the country’s South Minister Dr. Keheliya Rambukwella : "Once we retake Pooneryn located in the Northwest coastline, the supply lines to the LTTE from that side of India will be totally stopped." Minister Dr. Keheliya Rambukwella : "Once we retake Pooneryn located in the Northwest coastline, the supply lines to the LTTE from that side of India will be totally stopped."

Minister Dr. Keheliya Rambukwella, Government Spokesman for Defence and National Security, when speaking to News told that A-9 land route to Colombo was closed to the people of the Jaffna peninsula due to the intransigence of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. He said Prabakaran and his men continue to shed crocodile tears while adamantly refusing to lay down their arms and thus bringing untold misery and hardship to our Tamil brethrens.

Given below the excerpts if the interview News had with Minister Dr. Keheliya Rambukwella:

Dr. Keheliya Rambukkawela: As you know now that Vidathaltivu, the LTTE’s largest sea base located in the Northwest coastline has fallen and we are trying get through to Pooneryn located in the A 32 Road, in the Kilinochchi district, which lays on the south of the Jaffna Lagoon and could reach Karativu on the other side of the Lagoon and to Jaffna via Navatkuli through a ferry.

Once we retake Pooneryn located in the Northwest coastline, the supply lines to the LTTE from that side of India will be totally stopped. Also on the other side we are almost there in Nayaru. Even today (09 August), the Air Force planes attacked Nayaru.

Basically the sea-bases which the Sea Tigers have been boasting about are now coming under the control of the Government forces. If you look at, in the last three months basically there was only three confrontations by the Sea Tigers and in those confrontations Navy was able to take control of those situations over there.Map showing A - 32 RoadMap showing A - 32 Road

The important thing is that what Soosai, Head of LTTE's Sea Tiger unit of the LTTE has been boasting about is not receding but it almost coming to zero, which in turn means that Navy has consolidated their positions and taken control of the entire Northwest sea belt.

News : Since the capture of Vidathaltivu, so far you have finished mopping up all the areas in the Mannar District. Now the next town beyond Velankulam in A – 32 Road is Kumulamunai and Pallavarayankaddu ?

Dr. Keheliya Rambukkawela : That is on the North West Coast?

News: Yes. These two areas are falling under Kilinochchi district?

Dr. Keheliya Rambukkawela : These areas are cutting across Kilinochchi … no? So if we now move from A point to B point, i.e., from Mannar to Pooneryn, then it means that we are cutting half way into Kilinochchi.

News : Then there is the Kalmunai Point from where Tigers fire artilleries to Palali Army Complex and the Forward Defence Line - Muhamalai

Dr. Keheliya Rambukkawela : Basically their heavy artillery guns are presently positioned in Pooneryn. Once we reach there and take over Pooneryn, they have to flee leaving those guns behind or move their heavy guns away from there, then the attacks on Palali and Muhamali will cease, because the range of those guns in the possession of the LTTE are between 24KM to 27 KM only. So that will cut off.

Also there is another important issue that has cropped up now. We have cleared the complete area in and around the Madhu Church. Apart from the normal duties of the Army, it went all out and completely cleared the area from land mines and booby traps laid by the LTTE and made the roads available for the people to come in to Madhu.

We did all things needed for the Madhu, but of course we cannot get into the administration of the Madhu Church. Therefore we have now handed over the area to the Bishop. Now our understanding is that there are seven Catholic priests living over there.

Earlier the Statue of Our Lady of Madhu was taken to an LTTE controlled area 40 KM away. That area Devanpiddy is now under the Government control. But unfortunately the Bishop has made a statement that they are not going to hold the annual feast for this year.

News: It seems that they have some time constraints, because Bishop took over the Church on the 6th of August and the feast has to be held on the 15th of August

Dr. Keheliya Rambukkawela : You mean to say they faces logistical problems.

News: I think yes, but the Bishop of Mannar has stated that Sri Lanka Government as well as the LTTE should declare Madhu area a ‘No Conflict Zone’ on the lines also urged by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka. Your comments?

Dr. Keheliya Rambukkawela : That was a very contentious statement. When the area was held by the LTTE, either the Bishop of Mannar or the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka did not urge the LTTE to declare Madhu as a ‘No Conflict Zone’.

But now when Government has taken over the Madhu area, the Bishop wants that area to be declared as a sacred area or in other words a ‘No Conflict Zone’. The fact remains that he did not make such demands when the LTTE was there.

News: According to our information the entire Madhu region and neighboring areas are under the control of the Government, then where is LTTE coming into this picture?

Dr. Keheliya Rambukkawela : The whole area is under a legitimate government.

News: Then how come the Bishop expects the Tamil Tigers to make a statement?

Dr. Keheliya Rambukkawela : We are very much concerned about the statement made by the Bishop of Mannar. Because there is no way the LTTE can provide security as the whole Madhu region is under the control of the sovereign legitimate Government of Sri Lanka. It amounts to Bishop inviting LTTE as a party to the territory. That is why we are very much concerned about the contentious statement of the Bishop of Mannar.

News: Why doesn’t the Government invite the Bishop of Mannar and members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka and find out what they are up to?

Dr. Keheliya Rambukkawela : I intend to discuss this issue with our President and suggest him to invite the Bishops to discuss about this issue.

SLAF destroys Tiger intelligence control network

The Air Force confirmed that they completely destroyed the LTTE’s main intelligence network control centre at Puthukkudiyirippu, Mullativu yesterday morning.

Air Force Spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara confirmed that the pilots had taken the target accurately and the intelligence network centre was completely destroyed during the attack carried out around 9:55 a.m.
Air Force fighter jets were engaged in the attack.

Meanwhile, yesterday around 10 a.m., the Air Force fighter jets carried out an operation targeting an LTTE supply centre located 15 kilometres west of Puthukudiyirippu at Vishvamadhu, Mullativu.

The Air Force pilots declared that the place was completely destroyed in the attack”, Com. Nanayakkara confirmed.
On Friday midnight an LTTE radar centre was destroyed by the Air Force situated Nagadivanthurai jetty in Pooneryn. MI 24 helicopters were engaged in the attack.

Declare assets in the Wanni

The Disaster Management Ministry has directed all NGOs and INGOs operating in the Wanni and other uncleared areas to submit details of their movable and immovable assets in the region.
This directive has been made in order to determine as to what action the government should take to prevent them from going into LTTE hands.

It has been reported that at least 40 SUVs (Special Utility Vehicles) belonging to Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) had gone missing in the Wanni region recently and believed to be in the hands of the LTTE. Earlier, several heavy equipment and machinery left behind by the NPA had also been taken over by the LTTE. This equipment had been used for de-mining by the Norwegians in the Wanni region

Highly placed government sources told The Nation that the NPA had been specifically told that, vehicles taken into the Wanni for humanitarian work, should not be be used for any military purpose. They had also been told that, since it is difficult to engage in humanitarian work in the area, owing to the ongoing operations, such vehicles should be brought back to non conflict areas. The government had also told the representatives of the NPA that, they should exert international pressure on the LTTE to refrain from using such vehicles for military or other purposes and return them immediately. According to government sources, NPA officials had given a guarantee that they would pursuade the LTTE to return those vehicles.

NGO sources in Colombo told The Nation that, if the LTTE decides to use these SUVs, white in colour, for their operations in the region, their (the NGOs) humanitarian missions will be in jeopardy, since all the SUVs will become targets of the security forces.

Meanwhile, Essential Services Commissioner General S.B. Divaratne, had decided to restrict the supply of fuel to the INGOs operating in the Wanni.

In a letter addressed to several INGOs, the Divaratne has requested them to submit details pertaining to their projects/activities undertaken in the uncleared areas, including location of the project and number of vehicles, machinery used etc.

The letter further states thus: “It is informed that due to ongoing operations in the north, it would be difficult for the NGOs/INGOs to implement the projects they have undertaken in the uncleared areas. Further, it is also reported that, a large number of vehicles, machinery, equipment, belonging to the NGOs /INGOs had been robbed by the LTTE for their use.
Under the circumstances, this information is required in order to reassess the request made for the issuance of fuel for future demands of your organisation.”

10 terrorists killed, 36 wounded

59 Division troops operating North of Janakapura and Kiriibbanwewa in Mullaittiuvu, Wednesday (August 6) mounted multiple assaults at LTTE strong-points and heavy gun positions killing 10 LTTE terrorists and injuring 36 others, defence sources said.

Troops have also repulsed consecutive LTTE offensive attempts to breach military defences since yesterday morning in general area North of Janakapura. The LTTE terrorists were forced to retreat with heavy casualties as confrontations had continued till late evening on Wednesday, military sources reported citing ground troops.

LTTE retreating in Lanka: The Time of India

On Friday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met an array of Sri Lankan political forces in Colombo, ahead of the SAARC summit. Those he met included Tamil groups opposed to and sympathetic to the LTTE. To everyone he had one message: India would like democratic forces to prevail in Sri Lanka's northeast.

Meanwhile, the refugee flow into India is manageable. New Delhi is also relentlessly pursuing the LTTE in Tamil Nadu and elsewhere so that it does not source war materials from India. This is music to Colombo's ears.

Less than three years after it took on Colombo with aggressive war mongering, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is desperate for fighters, say Tamil activists and diplomatic sources.

According to Tamil sources in the island's troubled northeast, the LTTE is appealing to Tamil families to contribute at least one member each, irrespective of age and gender, to take on the advancing military.

The LTTE now controls about 4,000 sq km - or just six percent of Sri Lanka's land territory. And the population under its control is said to be about 250,000 - a mere 1.25 percent of the country's total.

This is a far cry from 2005 when it controlled a vast area in Sri Lanka's north and east. However, soon after President Mahinda Rajapaksa took power in November that year, the LTTE took the offensive, stoking a war that rages to this day.

Military officials say that the LTTE's ability to counter-attack in a major way has been seriously eroded over the past year. The loss of the east has meant that the LTTE has lost valuable training ground and a region where it recruited cadres to wage war.

While Sri Lankan leaders admit that it will be impossible to crush the LTTE as long as a sense of Tamil nationalism exists, the LTTE appears to be on the retreat in the north. But those who have known the LTTE warn that it will not give up, come what may.

Most diplomats feel that neither Colombo nor the LTTE desire talks. Colombo certainly thinks it is winning the war. And although the pro-LTTE media makes noises about the need for a dialogue, there is no guarantee the LTTE wants that.

In any case, calls for peace talks are dismissed in Colombo as a disguised pro-LTTE stand. The state refuses to listen to hectoring on human rights. Western activists are told that they cannot cross a line. If they do, reaction is swift.

In Sri Lanka, the two most key anti-LTTE Tamil leaders, former Tiger commander Karuna and his deputy and Eastern Province Chief Minister Pillayan, appear to have made up. Residents in the east say that Karuna will be in charge of party affairs while Pillayan will handle only affairs related to the provincial government.

Karuna's men are reportedly looking for 300 ex-LTTE cadres they believe are hiding in Colombo. It is trying to hunt them down in the Tamil areas of the capital with the help of the security forces.

At the same time, Sri Lanka seems to be in no hurry to unveil a political package that would be acceptable even to Tamil moderates.

Source: The Time of India.

Nallur Kandasamy annual festival commences today

The annual festival of Nallur Kanthasamy Kovil (Temple) in Jaffna commences today with Kodi Etram - the ceremony of flag hoisting to mark the beginning of the temple festival. The festival will commence at 10 AM, in the morning. According to tradition, Nallur Kanthasamy Temple is said to be one of the few temples in the peninsula that practices rites and observances according to Saiva agama traditions, and reflected with regularity, splendor and pageantry.Nallur Kanthasamy Kovil is one of the most important temples in the Jaffna peninsula.

The annual festival used to commence on the sixth day of the Adi Amavaci – New moon in the month of Aadi (July) and would last for 25 days.Nallur Kanthasamy Kovil is one of the most important temples in the Jaffna peninsula. The annual festival used to commence on the sixth day of the Adi Amavaci – New moon in the month of Aadi (July) and would last for 25 days.

The temple festival will be held for the next 25 days. Unlike earlier annual festivals, according to the temple authorities, this year too the festival is to be held with subdued version of the pageant and pageantry.

The day pooja (adoration of deities with rituals) is to be held with the temple deity taken into procession within the inner court of the temple.

The evening pooja during the festival days will be held with the deity taken in procession at 4.45 pm. Temple authorities revealed that the day’s pooja will be over by 5.30 pm in the evening .

Today, the temple flag will be brought in procession from the ‘Theradi Murugan matt’ located at the Sattanathar Street, to be used for the hoisting.

The annual festival is expected to draw tens of thousands of pilgrims from all corners of the country and also this year, a few dozens of Tamil expatriates from Western countries are expected to arrive for the festival.