Sri Lanka Army to launch a full scale offensive in the Tiger-heartland shortly

Sri Lanka Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka said that Sri Lankan ground troops will attack Kilinochchi town from next week with the support of the Air Force.
Army Commander said this while addressing a book launch ceremony held at the National Library service board auditorium, in Colombo, yesterday.
He told the gatherings that at the moment troops were located four km from Kilinochchi town. He emphasized that after the capture of Kilinochchi, troops would search every nook and corner and eliminate terrorists.
“Once Kilinochchi is captured troops will advance towards Mullaitivu,” he said, adding that the morale and determination of the Sri Lanka troops was very high.
He made these comments when he and Air Force Commander Air Vice Marshal Roshan Goonetileke participated as chief guests at the launch of the 'Rivira' weekend Sinhala newspaper defence correspondent Tissa Ravindra’s third book titled "Battle in the Wanni."
The Air Force Commander addressed the audience and said the Air Force was receiving intelligence on the LTTE leader Prabhakaran’s hideouts.
Prabakaran change his location time to time but, one day we will bomb Prabhakaran’s bunker and destroy him and bring long lasting peace to Sri Lanka, Air Force Commander said.
He said further so far the Air Force has bombed and destroyed the LTTE’s military infrastructure and would continue bombing and destroying the Tiger military infrastructure.

Docs launch token strike

Vauniya GH treats civilians including refugees and the injured security personnel
Contrary to claims by the Health Ministry, the Vavuniya General Hospital was not equipped to meet the challenging task of providing health care to thousands of people seeking refuge in government-held areas, GMOA spokesperson Dr. Upul Gunasekera said yesterday.
In a brief interview with News-Lanka, an angry Gunasekera said the medical staff of the premier health institution in the region struck work for four hours from 8 a. m. to 12 noon yesterday to pressure the Health Ministry to ensure adequate transport facilities to doctors serving there. He said that there had not been a breakdown of emergency services and medical facilities provided to the army.
Vavuniya remains a key medical facility for the army fighting on the Vanni front.
Due to the recent Defence Ministry directive to prohibit private vehicles from operating between Medawachchiya and Vavuniya and termination of train services northwards beyond Medawachchiya, the medical staff attached to government hospitals at Vavuniya and Mannar had been provided with two vehicles for their convenience, he said. Under this scheme, the Health Ministry had agreed to provide both vehicles and fuel to maintain uninterrupted services.
Commending Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa for promptly facilitating the issue of a special pass for the medical staff to pass through the Medawachchiya checkpoint, Dr. Gunasekera accused the Health Ministry of turning a blind eye to their basic requirements.
Responding to our queries, he warned that unless the Health Ministry fully restored the transport services immediately, the GMOA would step up trade union action. "We’ll probably strike on Monday," he said, asserting it would be the responsibility of the government to ensure uninterrupted services at Vavuniya.
The official also accused the Health Ministry of failing to provide the required facilities to hospitals in the region even after President Mahinda Rajapaksa personally intervened on behalf of the army. He said the President had wanted the best possible care provided to army and police casualties but the Health Ministry and the Provincial administration had failed in their task.
He explained that the cold storage facilities at government hospitals at Vavuniya and Padaviya among other areas had been provided by the ICRC as pointed out by News-Lanka at a recent press conference chaired by Human Rights and Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe. The Health Ministry was discussing grandiose plans while conveniently forgetting the need to provide essential services and take urgent measures to meet any eventuality in view of the Vanni battle.
He warned an unprecedented health crisis unless urgent steps were taken to strengthen facilities at hospitals to meet any eventuality. "We are struggling to meet the health requirement of both civilians and the army," he said, expressing concern over the absence of a cohesive policy to meet the army’s growing demand for enhanced medical facilities.
A spokesperson for the Vavuniya branch of the GMOA accused the Medical Superintendent of the Vavuniya hospital and the Regional Director of Health Services of allocating space in the newly built OPD and clinic complex outside the original plan. He said the GMOA wanted the ministerial intervention to correct the situation immediately.
He alleged the ministry of turning a Nelsonian eye to the deteriorating situation in the face of a major influx of internally displaced persons from LTTE-held area.
A Health Ministry spokesman told News-Lanka that a high level delegation would be sent to Vavuniya today to discuss the entire gamut of issues and take corrective measures.
Dr. (Mrs) P. Pasupathyrajah, medical superintendent and Dr. M. Mahendran, Regional Director of Health Services, Vavuniya, in a letter to President of the Vavuniya branch of the GMOA had explained the efforts taken by them to restore transport services. While appealing them to call off their trade union action, the two officials had emphasised the importance of a joint effort to run the hospital. Responding to the criticism over allocation of the newly built OPD and clinic complex, they said that allocation was done immediately to accommodate the Defence Ministry request for a suitable location for an Army Ward.

Security News

Killinochchi town will come under army fire from next week, Army Commander say while speaking to media.

Air Force Fighter jets pound terror positions

Sri Lanka Air Force fighter jets pounded LTTE reinforcements detected in the Akkarayankulam area this afternoon (Sept 25).
Air Force spokesperson , Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara speaking defence.lk said that the air strike was taken at 2.20 PM targeting an LTTE gathering 1 Km North of Akkarayankulam Tank bund.

troops getting closer to A-9 road from West

Battlefield reports received yesterday (Sept 24) indicate that troops operating in the Kilinochchi and North of Vavuniya fronts were further pushing their defence towards Jaffna-Kandy (A-9) road from west of Wanni. According to the defence sources in the front troops of 57 division were getting closer to Kokavil and troops of Task Force 2 are heading towards Mankulam.
Troops of Army 57 division attacked 2 terror bunkers situated in the west of Akkarayankulam last afternoon and confirmed both bunkers were destroyed. However, terror casualties in these incidents were not known.
Meanwhile, troops of Army Task Force 1, operating in the western half of the Kilinochchi front confronted with a group of terrorists in the Nachchikudha area last evening. 3 soldiers suffered injuries during this incident. Terror casualties were not known. On the same day afternoon, snipers deployed in the Nachchikudha forward area confirmed shooting down of one LTTE cadre.
In the Vannerikkulam area, troops confronted with a group of terrorists around 8 AM and claimed 4 terrorists were killed and at least 6 others were wounded. Later in the same day afternoon, troops attacked and captured an LTTE bunker located elsewhere. Intercepted terror radio transmission revealed 3 terrorists killed in the incident. Troops found a T-56 riffle along with 300 ammo and a radio communication set. Meanwhile, snipers deployed in the Vannerikkulam forward area confirmed shooting down of one LTTE cadre during morning hours.
Troops of Task Force 2 operating in the Vavuniya front had three separate confrontations with the terrorists in the Palamoddai area during the day and claimed 6 terrorists were killed. Also, troops found one T-56 weapon with 65 rounds, 3 RPG bombs, 3 hand grenades, and one pouch following one of the confrontations.
Meanwhile, troops of 56 division maintaining the active defence in the either side of the A-9 road in Omanthai attacked a terror bunker located in the Navatkulam area around 11 AM. Troops confirmed one terrorist was killed and the bunker was partially destroyed.
Troops of 59 division operating in the Mullaittivu front had daylong fighting in Andankulama forests reserve and claimed 5 terrorists were killed, 8 others wounded and 17 more were either killed or wounded. Also, 4 soldiers suffered injuries during these incidents.
Meanwhile on the Jaffna theatre of operation, troops maintaining active defence in the Muhamalai area attacked a groups of terrorists detected in the forward area around 10 last night. Troops found a body of an LTTE cadre during subsequent search. Later, intercepted terror radio transmissions revealed 2 terrorists were killed in the incident. One soldier was killed and another suffered injuries due to IED and AP mine explosions occurred elsewhere.

source: defence.lk

More complaints against Sakwithi Ranasingha

Sri Lanka Police says number of complaints against renowned English teacher Sakwithi Ranasingha has rapidly risen. Police spokesman SSP Ranjith Gunasekara said that the number of complaints against the Ranasingha who is accused of fraud of over 5 billion rupees had risen up to 4220.

Ranasingha has been engaged not only in teaching English but also in the real estate business and owned unregistered finance company.

Over 4,400 people have invested in his financial organizations, which provided attractive interest rates to customers, according to the Police.

Police spokesman said that the Ranasinghe has reportedly fled the country taking his family with him. Extensive investigations are being conducted into the whereabouts of the accused.