Fighting continues for key Nagar Kovil sectors

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 October 2000, 16:06 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army sources in Jaffna said that troops in Nagar Kovil are still trying to push back Liberation Tiger units that had broken through this coastal detachment's forward defence localities between the village market and the Koriyadi point on the southern side of the beach here. The main supply route to Nagar Kovil that branches off from the coastal road from Pt.Pedro to Aaliyavalai has been interdicted by the Tigers.

Supplies to the besieged Nagar Kovil camp are currently being sustained from Kudathanai, although there is no alternative motorable road or path on this mud and sandy terrain.

The Nagar Kovil village is one kilometre east of the old coastal road from Pt.Pedro to Aaliyawalai by the beach. The junction where the link road branches off to Nagar Kovil is known as Tharavai which was formerly a minor agricultural settlement.

The market is situated between Tharavai and Nagar Kovil on the link road. (However, the famous Naga Thambiraan Temple from which the village derives its name is situated by the main coastal road)

The SLA's greatly reinforced base in Nagar Kovil is spread on the half a kilometre of terrain between the market and the village beach. The buffer zone of the camp extended from the market-beach axis to Koriyadi, five hundred meters south on the coast.

The Tigers overwhelmed this buffer zone last evening and interdicted the link road between Tharavai and the market.

The link road branching off to the Nagar Kovil village from Tharavai was the shortest line of supply to the detachment and hence its lifeline.

With this cut off in yesterday's attack, the SLA is trying to maintain an alternative lifeline to the detachment by sending supplies from Kudathanai, about three kilometres north west of Nagar Kovil over a road-less terrain. An old mud track by the beach called the VC (Village Council) Road runs from Nagar Kovil to Vallipuram to the north.

Now SLA has to take supplies over the difficult terrain between the old coastal road and the mud track by the beach.

If the Sea Tigers succeed in their attempts to land north of the Nagar Kovil village then the detachment will stand in danger of being completely cut off SLA sources in Jaffna explained.

They said that special reinforcements are being rushed to the battle front to keep a lifeline open to the besieged camp open, to thwart the Tigers from advancing any further towards the base and to block the Sea Tigers from establishing a beach head north of Nagar Kovil.

The Tigers are continuing to attack SLA positions there they said.