Colombo: Pushing deeper into the remaining rebel-held territories in the embattled north, the Sri Lankan troops on Thursday captured a fifth runway used by the LTTE air wing even as the authorities buried bodies of 49 Tigers slain in fighting near the guerrillas' military bastion of Mullaittivu.
Advancing troops found the runway in the east of Iranamadu tank near the captured LTTE de facto capital of Kilinochchi, the Defence Ministry said.
The airstrip, the fifth taken over by the troops so far during the latest phase of the war against LTTE, is 50m wide and over 1000m long. It is situated in the thick jungles with a massive bunker line and a trench line around the runway complex with mine fields and booby traps.
"A hanger has been found in the complex and it is said that the fleeing LTTE men who were unable to withstand the firepower of army troops have damaged the complex," the Ministry said adding, the clearing operations are underway.
The LTTE air wing had launched raids into the airport and a power station in Colombo and an air base in the north last year. The light planes used by LTTE were believed to have been smuggled into the island in parts and reassembled.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan police buried bodies of 49 LTTE cadres after the International Red Cross said it could not collect the corpses amidst fierce clashes around the remaining rebel stronghold of Mullaittivu.
After taking permission from the Vavuniya district court, the bodies were temporarily buried by police, officials said.
Separately, six bodies of Tiger cadres were recovered from Dharmapuram and Puliyansekkarai near Kilinochchi last evening with weapons, the army said.
The military said heavy fighting continued in Ramanadapuram, Murusamoddai and Pandisundan areas near Kilinochchi last evening.
Troops recovered ten anti-personnel mines and two LTTE booby traps from the region.
In Vavuniya, troops of the Sri Lankan army engineering Corps recovered and destroyed 200 anti-personnel mines and six 60mm mortar bombs in Iranaiiruppukulam area last evening, the government's Media Centre for National Security said.
At Mullaittivu, confrontations continued in Muliyaweli east and Pudukuduirippu east on Wednesday. Both the Sri Lankan security forces and the LTTE suffered damages during the clashes, the MCNS said.
Separately, LTTE fighters launched a series of attacks at the troops using 130 mm artillery in Pudukudirrippu west and Udamurippu areas, the MCNS said.
Intense clashes also occurred in Udayakattikulam and Alankulam in Mullaittivu on Wednesday.
Both the LTTE and the troops suffered damages during the clashes, the MCNS said adding, during subsequent search operation conducted in Alankulam troops found the body of a female LTTE cadre killed in the clashes. Some arms and ammunitions were also recovered from the area, it said.
The LTTE has been fighting since 1983 for a separate homeland for minority Tamils in the Sinhalese-majority Sri Lanka. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the ethnic conflict so far.
Comments
0 comment