COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan armed forces notched up a landmark victory on Sunday when they captured Puthukudiyiruppu town in the north-eastern part of the island country after one of the toughest and the most long drawn out battles with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the last two years.
The forces also inflicted unacceptable attrition on the enemy when they killed top Tiger commanders like Theepan, Ruben, Nagesh, Gaddafi, Vidhusha, Durga and Kamalini.
The commander of the Tiger artillery, Banu, is believed to have been injured. Incidentally, the female leader, Col Vidusha, is the only Brahmin military commander of the LTTE. She led the elite female unit, the Malathi Brigade.
The Army said that the killings had taken place in pitched battles east of Puthukudiyiruppu on Saturday night.
Reports from the 53 Division said that the forces had counted 120 LTTE dead. But, it is believed that at least 400 might have been killed in the Puthukudiyiruppu battles since April 1. The 58 Division reported that it had found 140 Tiger bodies east of Puthukudiyiruppu.
The LTTE’s field formations are currently being led by the intelligence chief Pottu Amman and Banu.
Sri Lankan Army Commander Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka had told the media on Saturday that in the coming week, the armed forces would launch a massive operation to rescue an estimated 70,000 Tamil civilians trapped in the 19- sq km Safe Zone. The Army units are on the outskirts of the Safe Zone on three sides and the navy is patrolling the coast.