War spreads to the north of Sri Lanka

The LTTE launched a coordinated offensive last Friday on key military positions, including an artillery barrage on the Palaly airbase on the north of the Jaffna peninsula. The facility is a crucial lifeline for security forces stationed in the area as road links to the south of the island run through LTTE-controlled territory and have now all been closed.

A military Bell 212 helicopter as well as parts of the runway were damaged, forcing a suspension of all military and commercial flights. The Security Forces Head Quarters, situated in the same complex, came under LTTE long-range artillery fire from a distance of about 30 kilometres. The army has been compelled to rely on military helicopters to ferry in commandos to reinforce its ground forces.

The LTTE also advanced northward from Elephant Pass—a key strategic position that acts as the gateway to the Jaffna peninsula and was captured by the LTTE in 2000. LTTE fighters overran a number of the army’s forward bunkers. Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) representative Robban Nilsson told Reuters: “Ten bunkers of the Sri Lankan Army were taken but five of them were retaken by the security forces... They [the LTTE] are still 500 metres inside the [army] forward defence lines.”

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http://wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/sril-a14.shtml