SRI LANKA ARMY OVERRUNS THREE LTTE BASES IN THE KUMBURUPPIDY JUNGLES NEAR PORT CITY OF TRINCOMALEE

By Walter Jayawardhana

On the fifth anniversary of the tattered Ceasefire agreement the Sri Lankan army troops overran three jungle bases of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the Kumburipiddi jungles close to the Eastern port city of Trincomalee.

Military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said, ``The military had to carry out the operation as the terrorists were targeting our camps in the area and risking supply lines,''
Issuing a statement to mark the fifth anniversary of the Ceasefire agreement the LTTE said it would resume their war for a separate state.

The Security forces launched their offensive around that time. Samarasinghe said the offensive has made the Tamil Tigers to flee in to the jungles.

Samarasinghe said during the past 72 hours the Sri Lanka Army troops have neutralized three LTTE bases in the Kamburippidy jungles with the help of artillery and mortar attacks. Residents in the area said they heard heavy shelling during last Thursday.

The Ministry of Defense said in a statement, "Troops are still continuing their search and clearing operations to provide safety and security for the civilians and troops".

Meanwhile the Norway managed Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission moved out of their office in Vavuniya citing security reasons. Vavuniya is the gatway to the troubled Northern Province where the LTTE has launched a heavy recruitment drive to beef up their troops. On Thursday they announced that that they would resume the war for a separate state.

Since many of their Eastern stronghold have fallen many analysts think they would start the promised war in the Northern front from their stronghold of Kilinochchi and Mulativu.