Fall of Adampan imminent

(January 26, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Soldiers of the army's 58th division backed by artillery fire and armored units overran a section of LTTE's forward defense line south of Adampan, Mannar yesterday. 9 LTTE cadres were killed and 12 more are reported to be wounded when army overran 7 bunkers on the FDL. Advancing SLA forces are now about 800m from the Adampan town center. 58th division (Task Force 01), is advancing towards the major LTTE stronghold of Viduthalaithiv through Adampan sector.

Clashes erupted 8.30 AM in the morning when SLA units moved ahead of their current FDL towards LTTE controlled territory. With the recent construction of the second defense line between Adampan and the tiger stronghold of Viduthalaithiv, it was expected that the LTTE would pull back without offering too much resistance. However the tigers resisted the army advance for a significant amount of time until they were finally forced further back.

Meanwhile SLN commandos from the Special Boat Squadron (SBS) recovered a large cache of ammunition hidden in Peraru jungles, west of Nilaweli. 63 RPGs, 6000 7.62mm rounds and two T-56 weapons were uncovered. LTTE is known to use this jungle route to send guerilla attack teams into government controlled territory.

The Sri Lanka Air Force bombed what it called was a transport base of the LTTE located in Kilinochchi yesterday (25th) morning. According to the pilots, the target was accurately hit. LTTE however denied the claim mentioning that the bombers attacked a civilian populated area. This claim however is disputed as LTTE's anti aircraft guns fired when the jets flew above the target. LTTE does not place its AA guns in locations that are of no military significance. Pro LTTE Tamilnet.com did not admit the placement of AA guns around the bombed location. Instead it claimed that "Liberation Tigers anti-aircraft unit rushed to the area and opened fire when SLAF fighter jets swooped over the suburb, forcing the planes to higher altitudes". If this claim is true, how the LTTE units performed the miraculous task of beating supersonic jets to the scene of bombing is beyond our wildest imaginations.

[Defencenet]