The offensive on the Mannar front has reached a decisive stage with the army forcing the LTTE to abandon the centrally located Adampan town in the Manthai (West) area. The fall of Adampan is expected to speed up the collapse of enemy resistance on the Mannar front, thereby facilitating overall military strategy to destroy the remaining LTTE bases in the Vanni.

Troops secured Adampan by 8.30 a.m. following a four-hour battle with LTTE cadres who fiercely resisted the advance by troops of the Task Force I deployed on the Mannar front, Military Spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said. According to him, the army had lost two soldiers in the final assault while seven suffered injuries. He estimated the number of LTTE cadres killed during Friday’s battle at 15.

Since the beginning of December 2007 Task Force I carried out a series of operations to cut off Adampan and by early March troops secured Anandakulam junction thereby bringing the Uyilankulam-Anandakulam road under government control.

Army Chief Lt. General Sarath Fonseka before leaving on an official tour of Pakistan said that his troops were making significant progress on the Mannar (Task Force 1), Vavuniya-Madhu (57 Division) and Weli Oya (59) fronts. Speaking to The Island in the immediate aftermath of the damaging Muhamalai battle, he asserted the offensive was on track and the enemy wouldn’t have the wherewithal to thwart the army. Fonseka said troops on all three fronts had made substantial progress despite fierce resistance with troops on the Weli Oya front facing fire from a 23 mm weapon which had been taken off a Sea Tiger craft.

Air force spokesman Wing Commander Andy Wijesuriya said jets engaged an LTTE target two kms north of Parappakadanthan at 10.15 a.m. He said it was carried out in support of the ground troops. There could be more air strikes later in the day, he said in the afternoon as Mi 24 helicopter gunships zeroed-in-on a group of LTTE cadres north of Alankulam, just short of one Km ahead of the army positions.

With the fall of Adampan, the government is expected to step up efforts to take Vidattaltivu on the Mannar coast. This would be part of the strategy to gradually cut off the sea supply routes across the Gulf of Mannar by taking over and dominating the Mannar coast, the military said.

With the destruction of eight LTTE ships on the high seas between September 2006 to October last year, Tamil Nadu has become a major supply point for the LTTE. The navy said they would dominate the Mannar seas in an effort to cripple the Tamil Nadu supply line as the army disrupted the LTTE overland supply routes West to East.