Fighting rages as LTTE try to stall operation "Jaya Sekuru"

COLOMBO, Dec 4: Heavy fighting broke out in northern Sri Lanka on Thursday as fighters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) offer...

COLOMBO, Dec 4: Heavy fighting broke out in northern Sri Lanka on Thursday as fighters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) offered stiff resistance to soldiers advancing through the Vanni mainland in a bid to clear a land route to Jaffna through militant-held territory.“Certain amount of intense fighting has been reported from the north. Ground troops are being assisted by the air force. I cannot divulge any further details for security reasons,” the military spokesman said.

He declined to pinpoint the exact location of the attack but confirmed that the fighting was on territory consolidated over the last five months

by the military between Vavuniya and Mankulam.But neither the LTTE’s resistance nor the onset of the monsoon over the northern mainland are being seen as setbacks to the military operation code-named `Jaya Sekuru’ (sure victory) which has the objective of clearing a main supply route between Colombo and Jaffna through LTTE-controlled areas.

Launched in May, the operation is Sri Lanka’s biggest military offensive yet and its costliest, in terms of the loss of money and manpower.“The operation is progressing steadily towards its aim. In spite of bad weather, troops continue to advance and weaken the LTTE,” the spokesman asserted.

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`Meanwhile, one soldier was killed as police foiled an attempt by the LTTE early on Thursday to attack the office of a high-profile politician in the eastern town of Kattankudy. Around 10 cadres of the LTTE surrounded the office of Minister Mohammed Hizbollah and threw grenades at it, which however, did not explode.

When the police and home guards at the office retaliated, the militants fled leaving behind a box. It was apparently a bomb as later, a corporal who tried to open the box was killed as it exploded on him.Hizbollah is a member of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, which is a partner of the ruling coalition and which has made a demand for a separate Muslim-dominated province in south-east Sri Lanka in the proposed new constitution.