Contrary to reports, the LTTE Vanni faction is
believed to have side-stepped Wednesday’s operation conducted by
Karuna loyalists in the dense jungles of the Ampara district.
They did not confront the attackers, an
authoritative source said, adding that they allowed their
erstwhile colleagues to move in, ransack the place before
leaving the area.
The LTTE is believed to have pulled out of the
area before about 300 renegade cadres moved into the
Kanjikudicharu jungles.
Although a mortar assault caused losses among
Vanni cadres, they managed to move deeper into the jungles
before Karuna loyalists surrounded their bases.
The Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) said
that their cadres successfully brought Kanjikudicharu, Pavatta,
Rufus and 73 camps under their control. The Karuna faction
claimed that it killed at least 15 Vanni cadres and wounded
about 30, a claim vehemently denied by the LTTE. They recovered
several arms including one rocket propelled grenade and two
light machine guns.
A Vanni cadre shot dead one Karuna loyalist. Six
suffered injuries in explosions triggered by booby trapped
explosives devices.
The possibility of the Vanni faction receiving
advanced information of the impending operation could not be
ruled out, a senior security official said.
STF headquarters denied a pro-LTTE TamilNet
report of police commandos carrying out Wednesday’s operation.
"We were not involved," a senior police officer said. He
dismissed claims that 18 commandos died in action and over were
25 wounded.
Karuna loyalists withdrew less than 24 hours
later. They are believed to have moved out of the area in
several vehicles.
Vanni faction cadres had moved back to their
bases.
