Four pronged offensive by SLA in Ma'nalaa'ru thwarted by LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 January 2008, 21:33 GMT]
Attempt by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers Saturday afternoon 2:00p.m, to move forward through four fronts including Ma'nalaa'ru, Ma'nki'ndi Malai with heavy artillery gunfire towards Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) bases was successfully thwarted by Liberation Tigers in a counter attack, LTTE sources said.

The fighting at Ma'nki'ndi Malai lasted nearly two and a half hours and the SLA is feared to have suffered several casualties, sources added.

SLA troopers unable to withstand the counter attack by LTTE withdrew to their bases carrying the wounded troopers. A large number of arms and ammunitions were captured by LTTE during the encounter, Tigers said.

LTTE cadres did not suffer any causality during this successful counter attack.

The Sri Lankan government settled Sinhala civilians in the abandoned Tamil villages of Ma'nalaa'ru region, renaming it in Sinhala as Weli Oya, a translation of Ma'nal Aa'ru (sand river).

Ma'nki'ndi Malai area was renamed Janakapura by Maj.Gen. (ret) Janaka Perera after the SLA forcibly evacuated the Tamils living there. Thousands of Tamil residents were driven out of eighteen traditional villages in Ma'nalaa'ru and from the large old village of Thennamaravaadi almost overnight by the Sri Lankan army in 1984.