LTTE FDL commander dies in accidental explosion

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 May 2006, 11:17 GMT]
Lt. Col. Veeramani, a former Commander of the Charles Antony Regiment of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and later a field commanding official, responsible for the Nagarkovil Forward Defence Line (FDL) points, Wednesday night succumbed to his wounds from an accidental explosion, LTTE officials in Kilinochchi said. Lt. Col. Veeramani, who recovered from earlier wounds in the battlefield, has been in charge of FDL points in Nagarkovil.

Subramaniam Vadivel, alias Veeramani, is from 1st Unit, Pavatkulam, Vavuniya, LTTE's media official Daya master told media.

Three days before the accident, on 21 May, TamilNet's Vanni correspondent was allowed to cover the dialouge between the LTTE Norther Front Forces Commander Lawrance and the civilians in the area. Lt. Col. Veeramani was among the officials who addressed the people who were supplying food and offering assistance to the Tiger FDL points in Nagarkovil.

"The SLA troopers never stop provoking our fighters. Their FDL sentry points are just 40 meters away from ours. At the start they hurled stones at us but we tolerated it. But three days ago the stones turned into shots directed against our combatants," said Lt. Col. Veeramani.



Pointing at SLA FDL lines, Veeramani said, the FDL posts of SLA and the LTTE were located too close, in 40 meters distance.

"New enemy troops are brought in daily, and the fighting everyday reveal SLA's impatience to wage war on us," he said.



The people were now eager to learn more about the recent loud reports and explosions they hear throughout the day, he added.

Referring to his last battle experience before the Ceasefire Agreement at Nagarkovil FDL, he said: "We retaliated with a destructive force which made them to flee. They have not returned since that day. Their FDL sentry posts were completely demolished. If our leader had given me permission and additional support forces, I would be speaking to you from a conquered Point Pedro now."



A civilian supporter interrupted: "We hear of Sri Lankan military being given modern weaponry and other war machinery by countries like America, Pakistan, Israel and even China in the media, how are you going to meet these fresh accumulation of sophisticated tools of combat?" asked the concerned middle aged man among the people.

Northern Front Forces Lawrence responded, "Our leader too have given us various modern weapons and we will use them effectively in the battles; even yesterday two armoured tanks fired at us but we drove them away."

"Enemy behavior points to an impending major SLA offensive on the Vanni. However, we are very confident that we will be able to beat them and achieve our leader's goals," assured Lt. Col. Veeramani to the people.



Northern Front Forces Commander Lawrence added: "I understand your eagerness; you would have heard the gun and artillery reports. You would have experienced harassment by the sudden closure of SLA entry posts. The increasing number of families seeking safety and refuge in the LTTE territory also concern us. All these are but shadows of coming events."

"We must learn first hand the actual situation at our Northern Front Defence Line (FDL) posts and about our Fighters there engaged 24 hours guarding our homeland," said Ms. Poomany, a mother of three children from Kilinochchi, after looking at the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) FDL posts from a lookout structure at the Nagarkovil FDL post Sunday the 21st May, to our reporter who joined the crowd of Kilinochchi district people.