By IANS,
Colombo : At least 19 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed Wednesday when the troops forcing their way into the last LTTE strongholds captured fresh territories from the rebels in the northeastern Mullaitivu district, the military here said.
It said that the troops captured Pachchapulimoddai, the eastern-most edge of the LTTE’s Puthukkudiyiruppu build-up, amid fierce resistance from the rebels.
The troops during their fresh offensives have inflicted heavy damages among the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels “as more and more Tigers started coming forward to meet the troops in their final resistance”, it said.
“Search operations conducted during Wednesday recovered 19 LTTE dead bodies, 19 T-56 weapons (rifles), two base stations, two I-com radio sets and two cougar hand-held sets of the LTTE,” the military said.
According to official statistics, the number of civilians fleeing the rebel-held areas defying LTTE orders was on the rise and over 62,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) have already entered the government-held areas since the beginning of 2009.
These IDPs are temporarily housed in welfare centres and villages in the northern Vavuniya, Mannar and Jaffna districts.