Tigers step up attack on Thallady

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 November 1999, 23:17 GMT]
The Voice of Tigers (VOT) said in its night news broadcast today that the Sri Lankan Army's strategic base at Thallady has come under intense attack from new fighting units of the Liberation Tigers that have been sent to the theatre of operations in Mannar. The radio said that sections of the base, including the 21-2 brigade HQ, are burning.

Heavy fighting was also reported in Manthai, less than four kilometers west of the Thallady base, this evening. The fighting erupted, according to sources in the area, between advancing formations of the LTTE and SLA units defending the approaches to the base.

Thallady is one of the oldest military bases in the island. It stands at the strategic junction on the coast of the Mannar mainland by the entrance of causeway to the Mannar island.

The base is headquarters to the 21-2 brigade which held the western sector of the Mannar-Vavuniya highway until early this year when most of its units were pulled out for the SLA's Rana Gosa operations in the interior.