Military sources confirmed that fierce battles erupted in Ampalavanpokkanai in the South of Chalai and North of Puthukudiyiruppu as desperate Tiger cadres now entrapped in less than 40 square kilo metres made yet another attempt to breach the Security Forces defences for the fourth consecutive day yesterday(08).

More than 50 Tiger cadres were reportedly killed and scores of others injured as 58 Division troops foiled a desperate LTTE attempt to breach the Security Forces defences in Ampalavanpokkanai in the North of Puthukudiyiruppu, once troops advanced 400 metres closer to the Puthumattalan safe zone, military sources told yesterday(08).

Well trained cadres from the Radha and Charles Anthony brigades providing personnel security for the top level Tiger leaders made their first attempt to breach the Security Forces defences in the wee hours of Thursday and the attempt was effectively foiled by the 58 Division troops and the Commando troops killing more than 60 Tiger cadres.

The 58 Division troops foiled their second and third attempts even using explosive laden trucks driven by suicide cadres on Friday and Saturday too killing more than 100 Tiger cadres in that battle front.

Troops of the 58 Division were able to foil four massive counter attacks by the LTTE killing more than 150 Tiger cadres since the early hours of Thursday.

President orders bigger shipments to assist displaced civilians

Government sea freighter Win Tang leaves for Mulathivu with 500 MT of food and rations for the displaced civilians at 3.00 pm today (07). This is the biggest shipment dispatched since the beginning of the humanitarian war in the North so far, as the previous shipments have been so meager in relation carrying around 10 – 15 MTs of food, Commissioner of Essential Services S. B. Divarathna said.

To deliver the food items in quick succession, several boats are kept waiting to carry the food ashore, the commissioner added.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is of the view that present dispatches of items are not adequate for the innocent civilians, and ordered bigger shipments to accelerate the process, the commissioner said.

Senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa will personally supervise the process and expects to proceed with similar shipments twice a month in future. ICRC expressed solidarity with government humanitarian efforts promising to extend its helping hand on site.

Pakistan said authorities had identified the men who ambushed the Sri Lankan cricket team and conceded security breaches in failing to prevent the deadly attack.

Dramatic footage of the gunmen making a leisurely getaway from the scene of Tuesday’s deadly assault opened the floodgates to criticism that security forces should have done more to prevent an assault that killed eight people. “We have identified the people who did the operation,” Provincial Governor Salman Taseer told a news conference in Lahore, the capital of Punjab.

“We have a lot of information. We have arrested many people, rounded up some suspects... but the final investigation will be presented to me; I am not in a position to say more,” said Taseer.

Up to 12 men attacked the convoy of officials, coaches and players, firing automatic weapons, grenades and a rocket launcher as the vehicles approached the cricket ground in the city of Lahore. The attackers fled without a trace. The new footage, captured by closed-circuit cameras, shows two suspects wearing rucksacks and ambling down the road, apparently untroubled after the carnage took place.

They then jumped on motorbikes and sped off. Police released sketches of four suspects. No one has claimed responsibility for the assault, which killed eight Pakistanis and wounded 19 people, including seven Sri Lankan players and an assistant coach.

The top government official for Lahore conceded Thursday there were gaps in security provision for the Sri Lankan team.

“A terrorist has to succeed only once, whereas security has to be successful all the time. After every incident one gets wiser. You get to know all the gaps and how you should not repeat those gaps,” Khusro Pervaiz said.