Sri Lanka Army base under attack -LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 November 1999, 11:48 GMT]
Heavy fighting is continuing for the third day in the Vanni where the Liberation Tigers have launched a fresh assault on the Karupaddamurippu the LTTE said in a statement from its London office today.

The text of the statement follows:

Karupaddamurippu military base under attack. Sri Lankan troops suffer further heavy causalities

Sri Lankan troops suffered further heavy casualties when the fighting units of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched a fresh offensive thrust last night on the military base at Karupaddamurippu, a strategic town seven kilometres east of Mankulam.

Heavy fighting is still raging in the area. Having taken control of the military complexes at Oddusuddan and Nedunkerni in quick succession during the last two days of fighting, the LTTE fighting formations have now surrounded Karuppaddamurippu and pounding the strategic military base with heavy artillery and mortar fire.

Faced with the fierce assault by the LTTE forces, the Sri Lankan military rushed reinforcements to the area from Mankulam. Karuppaddamurippu military base houses the tactical headquarters of the Sri Lankan army's 55 Division and manned predominately by Navy personnel.

In another development, the LTTE fighters launched a massive artillery attack yesterday on the Kanakarayankulam military complex situated on the A9 highway, 15 kilometres from Vavuniya town.

The artillery bombardment hit the ammunition dumps causing massive explosions that destroyed several military buildings in the area including brigade headquarters and a field hospital. Scores of troops were killed and over 300 injured in the attack.

In another incident Israeli made Kfir bombers launched a sudden attack on a civilian settlement at Pandiyankulam in the Mullaitivu District yesterday evening around 5.45p.m.

The bombardment, widely regarded as a deliberate retaliatory attack by the Airforce for the humiliating military debacles on the ground, killed six innocent civilians and wounded eight more."