Sri Lanka news columns

Rasika SOMARATHNA The Sri Lanka Air Force attacked three key LTTE gathering points in West of Nayaru lagoon in the Kumalamunai area using MI-24 attack Helicopters around 5.40pm yesterday evening in support of ground troops of the 59 Division. Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara told the Daily News that attacks on all three locations were successful and heavy tiger casualties were expected. Source

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The Air Force bombed the LTTE headquarters in Kilinochchi yesterday, causing significant damage to the building, according to reports from both the military and the LTTE. The army website termed the latest air raid an indelible milestone in the Wanni war, as the headquarters were once the nerve centre from which top LTTE leaders operated. The Defence Ministry quoted Air Force spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara as saying fighter jets from Katunayake had carried out the air strike on the Tiger headquarters located 2 km northeast of Kilinochchi town. The bombing was based on ground intelligence that a meeting of senior LTTE cadres was underway at the location, the Defence Ministry said. “The LTTE has maintained the targeted camp complex as its main military coordinating centre. The targeted camp is situated at Paravipanjan in Kilinochchi. The target was accurately engaged. However, the exact damage caused to the terrorists has not been verified yet,” it said. The Defence Ministr...

Ranil WIJAYAPALA COLOMBO: Air Force fighter jets carried out yet another successful mission targeting the LTTE’s military headquarters complex, two kilometres North East of Kilinochchi town at 12.45 p.m. yesterday, Air Force spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara told the Daily News. The LTTE had maintained the targeted camp complex as its main military coordinating centre, sources added. Intelligence sources revealed that the fighter jets had taken the target at a time a meeting of senior LTTE cadres was in progress. ”The fighter jets had taken the target accurately,” the spokesman added. However, the spokesman said there was no confirmation about the extent of damage caused to the LTTE in this air raid. Air Force fighter jets carried out a series of air raids on Wednesday too targeting major military, administrative and logistic bases heavily restricting Tiger movements and their ground operations. Source

චන්ද්‍රිකා පෙරේරා, විජයානි එදිරිසිංහ, මහින්ද කුලතුංග සහ භක්ති ධර්මපි‍්‍රය මෙන්ඩිස් කිලිනොච්චි ප‍්‍රදේශයේ ඇති කොටින්ගේ චාල්ස් ඇන්තනි බළකා මූලස්ථානය හා මුලතිව් පිරමන්තාල්කුලම් හි තිබූ කොටි නායකයින්ට සැඟවී සිටීමට සැකසූ කඳවුරක් සහ කාන්තා කොටි කඳවුරු පරිශ‍්‍රයක් ඇතුළු කොටි කඳවුරු තුනකට ඊයේ (01) ගුවන් හමුදාව විසින් පහරදී විනාශ කැර තිබේ.ජෙට් ප‍්‍රහාරක යානා උපයෝගීකර ගනිමින් එදින උදෑසන 5.30ට පමණ පිරමන්කාල්කුලම් සිට කිලෝමීටර් තුනක් පමණ ඊසාන වනගත ප‍්‍රදේශයේ තිබූ ත‍්‍රස්ත නායකයින්ට සැඟවී සිටීම සඳහා අධි සුඛෝපභෝගී කුටි සහිතව තනා තිබුණු කඳවුරු පරිශ‍්‍රයකට පහර දී ඇත. එදිනම දහවල් 10.30ට පමණ කිළිනොච්චි රෝහලට දකුණු දෙසින් තිබූ චාල්ස් ඇන්තනි බළකා මූලස්ථාන පරිශ‍්‍රයට හා එම ප‍්‍රදේශයේම පිහිටුවා තිබූ කාන්තා කොටි කඳවුරක් ද විනාශ කර ඇති බව ජාතික ආරක්ෂාව පිළිබඳ මාධ්‍ය මධ්‍යස්ථානය පැවැසීය. මිනිස් හා විද්‍යුත් බුද්ධි තොරතුරු මගින් හෙළිකළ කරුණු මත නිවැරැදි ඉලක්ක වෙත පහරදීම සිදුකළ බව ගුවන් හමුදා මාධ්‍ය ප‍්‍රකාශක වින්ග් කමාන්ඩර් ජනක නානායක්කාර පැවැසීය. මෙම ප‍්‍රහාරවලින් මියගිය හා තුවාල ලැබූ ත‍්‍රස්තවාදීන් පිළිබඳ මෙත...

Ranil WIJAYAPALA Kilinochchi: The Sri Lanka Air Force yesterday carried out a series of air raids targeting LTTE military and logistic bases including the headquarters of the elite ‘Charles Anthony’ Brigade and LTTE women cadres base located south of the Kilinochchi hospital, Air Force Spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said yesterday. “The Air Force fighter jets carried out three missions taking five targets at different times within yesterday”, the spokesman added. The Air Force fighter jets carried out three missions taking five targets at different times within yesterday, the spokesman added. The SLAF fighter jets raided the Charles Anthony Brigade headquarters and the LTTE women’s wing base located close to the headquarters of the Charles Anthony brigade simultaneously at 10.25 a.m.. According to sources, the Charles Anthony Brigade headquarters is located in a buildup area in the south of Kilinochchi and the cadres of this elite Brigade are playing a key role in the Kili...

SLAF Fighter jets pounded a LTTE gathering point 2.5 km north of Vannerikulam tank area around 4.10 p.m. yesterday. These air strikes were in support of the troops on the kilinochchi battlefront, Air Force spokesperson Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said. He said Air Force MI 24 helicopter gunships lunched strikes at a Tiger bunker line three Km north of Vannerikulam around 12.15 p.m. This attack was in support of Task Force 1 troops operating in the western half of the Kilinochchi front. The targets were taken accurately, the spokesman said Source

LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran’s days are numbered. His fate will be decided in the next few days, a confident Air Force Chief, Air Marshal Roshan Gunatilake said yesterday. "We will have Prabhakaran very soon," he said. The ground operations carried out by the Army and the very successful air raids conducted by the Air Force will decide his fate in the next few days, he said. Contrary to opinion expressed in several quarters Prabhakaran will not bite into his cyanide capsule as he was a man who loved life, he said. The people of the North too had now rejected Prabhakaran’s acts of terrorism and the only place he could hide now is the jungle as Kilinochchi, the dream stronghold of the LTTE, will also be taken by the troops soon, he said. Source

මහින්ද කුලතුංග, චන්ද්‍රිකා පෙරේරා කිලිනොච්චියේ වන්නාරිකුලම්හි පිහිටි කොටි මෝටාර් මධ්‍යස්ථානයකට සහ අක්කරායන්කුලම්හි කොටින්ගේ කාලතුවක්කු මධ්‍යස්ථානයකට ඊයේ (17) සවස ගුවන් හමුදාව ප‍්‍රබල ගුවන් ප‍්‍රහාර එල්ලකර එම ස්ථාන වනසා දමා තිබේ. පස්වරු 1.20 ට පමණ වන්නාරිකුලම් සිට කිලෝමීටර් දෙකහමාරක් පමණ දුරින් පිහිටි මෝටාර් මධ්‍යස්ථානයට ප‍්‍රථම ප‍්‍රහාරය එල්ලකර තිබෙන බව ජාතික ආරක්ෂාව පිළිබඳ මාධ්‍ය මධ්‍යස්ථානය සඳහන් කළේය. දෙවැනි ප‍්‍රහාරය සවස 3.40 ට පමණ අක්කරායන්කුලම් සිට කිලෝමීටර් 9 ක් වයඹින් පිහිටි කාලතුවක්කු මධ්‍යස්ථානයට එල්ලකර තිබේ. ගොඩබිම සිටින යුද හමුදාවේ 57 වැනි සේනාංකයට සහාය සඳහා මෙම ගුවන් ප‍්‍රහාර එල්ල කර තිබේ. මෙම ගුවන් ප‍්‍රහාර දෙක ඉතාම සාර්ථකව සිදු කළ බවට ගුවන් නියමුවන් විසින් සනාථ කර තිබේ. ඇමැති ඩග්ලස් ඝාතනයට සැලසුම් කළ මරාගෙන මැරෙන කොටියෙක් දැලේ ඉන්දික පොල්කොටුව ඊ. පී. ඩී. පී. නායක ඇමැති ඩග්ලස් දේවානන්ද මහතා ඝාතනයට සැළසුම් කිරීම ඇතුළු කදුකරයේ ත‍්‍රස්ත කි‍්‍රයා රැසක් උතුරෙහි සිට සැලසුම් කළ බව කියන මරාගෙන මැරෙන කොටි ත‍්‍රස්තවාදියකු ඇතුළු කොටි සැකකරුවන් දෙදෙනකු මහනුවර ත‍්‍රස්ත විමර්ශන ඒකකය මග...

Rafik JALALDEEN KILLINOCHCHI: One of the main hideouts of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was destroyed in an aerial attack by Air Force fighter jets last morning. Air Force spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said Air Force fighters launched precise air sorties yesterday at 6.35 a.m. targeting Prabhakaran's secret hideout in Vattakachchi, two kilometres north of Iranamadu Tank. "Prabhakaran's secret hideout was in an isolated location in Vattakachchi. He frequenly visited the hideout with other high profile Tigers. The location was highly fortified by the LTTE cadres," Wing Commander Nanayakkara told the Daily News. Defence sources said heavy traffic in enemy communication circuits was experienced immediately after the attack and subsequently faided leading to silence. Meanwhile, Air Force fighter jets pounded an LTTE arms and ammunition storage three kilometres north of Udayarkattukulam in Mullaitivu at around 6.30 a.m. "The target was destroyed and ...

විජයානි එදිරිසිංහ, චන්ද්‍රිකා පෙරේරා හා භක්ති මෙන්ඩිස් කොටි නායක වේලුපිල්ලේ ප‍්‍රභාකරන් ගේ පුත් චාල්ස් ඇන්තනී ගේ මෙහෙයවීමෙන් පවත්වාගෙන ගිය, මුලතිව් පිහිටි අධිතාක්ෂණික තොරතුරු මධ්‍යස්ථානය ඊයේ (16) උදෑසන ගුවන් ප‍්‍රහාරවලින් විනාශ කෙරිණි. මුලතිව් පුදුකුඩිඉරිප්පු ප‍්‍රදේශයේ ඝන කැලෑවේ මෙම අධිතාක්ෂණික තොරතුරු මධ්‍යස්ථානය පවත්වාගෙන ගොස් ඇත. ප‍්‍රභාකරන් ගේ පුත් චාල්ස් ඇන්තනී ඉංජිනේරුවකු බව කියැවේ. මුලතිව් කිලිනොච්චි ප‍්‍රදේශවල පිහිටි කොටි තාක්‍ෂණික මධ්‍යස්ථාන මෙහෙයවනු ලබන්නේ ඔහු විසින් බව ආරක්‍ෂක බුද්ධි අංශවලට මීට පෙරද තොරතුරු අනාවරණය වී තිබිණි. මෙම අධි තාක්‍ෂණික තොරතුරු මධ්‍යස්ථානය [HI-TECH IT FACILITY තුළ සිදුකෙරෙන සෑම දෙයක්ම චාල්ස් ඇන්තනිගේ උපදෙස් මත සැකසුණු ඒවා බව කියැවේ. එහි කටයුතු සඳහා ඔහු විසින්ම පුහුණු කරවනු ලැබූ තරුණයන් කිහිප දෙනකු යොදවා සිටි බවද පැවසේ. ගුවන් හමුදාවට මෙම මධ්‍යස්ථානය පිළිබඳ බුද්ධි තොරතුරුවලින් අනාවරණය වීමෙන් පසු ඊයේ පෙරවරුවේ ප‍්‍රහාරක ජෙට් යානා මගින් එම ප‍්‍රහාරය එල්ල විය. ප‍්‍රහාරයෙන් එම තොරතුරු මධ්‍යස්ථානය සම්පූර්ණයෙන් විනාශ වූ බව ගුවන් නියමුවෝ සනා...

Army repulses major Tiger attack on military complex According to intercepted LTTE ground information, the two pilots of the LTTE air craft had continued to communicate with each other on their way back to Kilinochchi. But suddenly, one of the Tiger aircraft had lost contact with the other. Soon one of LTTE pilots had informed the LTTE in Kilinochchi, about losing communication with the other. The night was darker and cooler than it was the previous days, and the Sri Lankan Army’s elite force -- the Special Forces-- members were on duty at the Security Forces Headquarters Vavuniya and the adjoining Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) base which was equipped with the Indian made radar system named Indra-2 . The SLAF base and the Vavuniya SF Headquarters are situated side by side and are divided by only a fence and a road that is not opened to the public. Bordering the south of the two bases is the jungle that leads to the Irattaperiyakulam area. The SF personnel suddenly detected a movement ...

Rafik JALALDEEN KILINOCHCHI: Air Force fighter jets yesterday bombed a most vital target in Kilinochchi - an LTTE intelligence headquarters said to be a frequent gathering point of Tiger Intelligence chief Pottu Amman. Air Force spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said Air Force fighter jets carried out an air raid on the LTTE's main Intelligence Command and Control Centre around 6.45 a.m. It is located one kilometre west of Kilinochchi. "The target was frequented by LTTE high profile leaders including LTTE Intelligence Wing leader Pottu Amman," he added. According to Military sources, a meeting was in progress at the centre attended by high profile Tiger leaders at the time of the aerial attack. Wing Commander Nanayakkara said the targets were precise and accurate. "The LTTE suffered heavy damage in the air raids and it is still early to disclose the degree of damages," he added. The air attack was launched f...

SLAF says it destroyed Tiger aircraft but heavy damages to personnel and property; 10 suicide cadres killed LTTE claims no damage to aircraft; says 20 soldiers killed in pre-dawn raid Air force says anti-aircraft radars intact Cross fire in P’ment as UNP says dawn attacks casts government claims about rapid northern advance into doubt By Rathindra Kuruwita & Lakna Paranamanna The Sri Lanka Air Force yesterday claimed that it had destroyed the first LTTE aircraft during the Tigers’ pre-dawn attempted air raid on the SLAF Base in Vavuniya last morning. Addressing a press briefing, Air Force officials said that pilots had confirmed the plane had gone down over the jungles of Mullaitivu. Ten LTTE cadres were killed while 11 soldiers died and 15 suffered injuries du...

by Shamindra Ferdinando =SLAF mounts casualty evacuation ops inside enemy territory The LTTE is in the process of expanding a second runway capable of accommodating heavy aircraft in Mullaitivu as government troops backed by air, artillery and armour battle through fortified enemy defences on the western and eastern flanks. The military has irrefutable evidence that the LTTE is engaged in the construction of the air strip in spite of the unprecedented army build-up on the multiple Vanni fronts where ground forces have inflicted massive losses on the Tigers. Although fighter aircraft had targeted the runway recently, the LTTE seemed to be going ahead with the construction determinedly, a highly placed military official said. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, he asserted that the LTTE would have made use of every available heavy earth moving machine for the construction wor...