By Chris Kamalendran
As the armed forces closed in on LTTE strongholds in the north, the rebels are reported to have called in their “reserve” forces, including retired guerrillas and civilians who had been doing odd jobs for them, a government officials claimed.
He said the civilians being enlisted to the LTTE’s war effort included farmers and labourers in Tiger-controlled areas. More than 5,000 former Tiger guerrillas and civilians have been enlisted following an urgent appeal by the group’s political wing, the official said.
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| Ex-guerrillas and civilians being trained at an LTTE facility. Pic Puthinam.com |
Soon after they enrolled, the new members were taken to a playground in Kilinochchi where they were put through physical exercise and training in handling automatic rifles.
Those who enrolled have been advised to report on a regular basis to the LTTE for training and were told that their main task would be to prevent the military from entering the LTTE’ stronghold in Kilinochchi.
One of the tasks entrusted to them has been to monitor the movement of security forces and alert the LTTE. The LTTE also has issued instructions to its medical units to be strengthened to meet any medical needs in the coming weeks. The move came as military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said yesterday the army was 12 kilometres south of the Kilinochchi town after capturing the strategic Thunkkai and Uyilankulam areas, cutting off a main road used by the Tiger guerrillas.
He said the security forces had resumed their advance towards Kilinochchi yesterday. The capture of Thunkkai and Uiylankulam on Friday cut off one of the key access routes to Mankulam while the number of civilians from the villages fleeing towards Kilinochchi increased steadily.
Brig Nanayakkara said the southern part of the Akkarayankulam tank also had been captured by troops inflicting another blow to the LTTE. At least four soldiers and 26 LTTE cadres were reported killed during heavy fighting in the Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and the eastern Wanni battlefronts yesterday.
Twenty four soldiers and 42 LTTE cadres were also injured in the fighting yesterday with heavy resistance reported form the Tunukkai and Palaimoddai areas. Meanwhile pressure was building on government authorities, UN agencies and international and local NGOs as the number of displaced people in the rebel-held areas increased.
They are being accommodated in temporary sheds, schools and open spaces. Among the displaced were about 25,000 students. The displaced people are being sheltered in 22 schools while 70 other schools in the LTTE-held areas have been closed down due to the fighting. Kilincochchi’s Government Agent A. Vedhanayagam on Friday held an urgent meeting with officials of UN agencies, the ICRC and INGOs to seek assistance to accommodate the students and other displaced people. He asked them to provide temporary shelter and sanitation facilities.
“We will be facing another severe problem when schools start next month as the displaced persons would have to vacate the schools,” he said. Meanwhile, more than 500 students who were due to sit the Year Five scholarship exam last Sunday could not do so as they have been displaced from their homes.
Defence sources say the LTTE has begun coercing civilians and moving them to the Welioya area while civilians are being told to construct bunkers and other defences in the area. They are also being prevented from moving into cleared areas, as the outfit is running out of manpower, they say.
Meanwhile there have been two reported cases of suicide related to forced conscription by the LTTE. One was from the village of Vattakachchiya where a mother had committed suicide by taking poison after her two daughters who were forced to fight for the LTTE were killed within three weeks.
In another incident a youth from Piramandankulam who resisted attempts by the LTTE to conscript him was reportedly assaulted by his LTTE abductors. Fearing reprisals, the youth committed suicide by swallowing poison.
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