Pallai is taken!
JAFFNA: DETERMINED troops of the 53 and 55 Divisions, a few hours after their Tuesday (6) gains, broke off from the already captured MUHAMALE LTTE Forward Defence Line (FDL), and enthusiastically moved further southward reaching the strategic PALLAI town center, about 5.5 km to the south of MUHAMALE when the clock struck 3.30 p.m. (local time) on Wednesday (7).
Columns of battle-hardened troops, attached to the 53 Division, commanded by Brigadier Kamal Gunarathne and troops of the 55 Division, commanded by Brigadier Prasanna Silva on Tuesday (6) snatched the LTTE FDL (See Tuesday s (6) Situation Report) and commenced their southward advance again at the crack of the first light on Wednesday (7).
Those southbound troops rolled down along both sides of the A-9 Highway as Wednesday (7) afternoon fell after they broke off from the LTTE MUHAMALE defences. Troops came under a rain of heavy enemy gunfire, but the troops responded and resisted fearlessly while forging ahead.
Several key LTTE Area Command centers, including the KILALY s ECHO-9 Base, GOLF-7 MUHAMALE Area Command Base, ECHO-3 Base and DELTA-2 Base were entirely smashed and brought under the troops as Wednesday (7) evening fell. Artillery fire, directed by advancing valiant troops set ablaze a huge LTTE ammunition dump, ahead of the troops, emitting huge bellows of smoke into the skies. A large cache of weapons and LTTE armaments, kept hidden and sealed inside concrete-made underground hideouts were also found by the troops as they moved forward. All evidence so far collected by dominating troops confirmed that PALLAI had served as a major terrorist hub, just before the troops broke in on the area, a few hours ago.
PALLAI, once a thriving coconut grove between MUHAMALE and the ELEPHANT PASS, had the Railway Station earlier between the ELEPHANT PASS and KODIKAMAM. During the Cease-fire Agreement (CFA) period, Tigers conveniently established their offices and training camps, but the enemy brought their artillery guns and heavy mortars to the area soon after the Cease-fire Agreement turned null and void with the escalation of LTTE attacks on unarmed soldiers and civilians.
Tiger terrorists with a view to staging a potential threat to the entire JAFFNA peninsula began positioning those heavy guns, both in PALLAI and POONERYN areas afterwards. Terrorists used those guns repeatedly in the past even when JAFFNA targets were taken by them. |
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7 Jan 2009 12:31:43 GMT 
7 Jan 2009 12:32:08 GMT 
7 Jan 2009 12:40:19 GMT 