Depleted LTTE units struggling to hold Tunukkai and Mallavi were yesterday under intense pressure from troops on two flanks and won’t be able to hold out in the face of superior firepower of the Task Force I and the 57 Division backed by armour, artillery and air strikes, senior military

officers said. Despite taking heavy losses, Tigers defending the two strategically located towns have been fiercely resisting the security forces assaults.

They said the army had already seized a sizeable stretch of the road leading from Vellankulam on the north-western coast to Mankulam, a strategic junction on the Kandy-Jaffna A 9 road. They expressed confidence the army could evict the LTTE from both Tunukkai and Mallavi shortly. A senior army officer based in Vavuniya said capture of Tunukkai and Mallavi would give a turbo boost to the ongoing military action on the western region of the Vanni.

Monday’s capture of Kalekuda jetty on the Kilinochchi coast came as no surprise. The army said the fighting elements of the Task Force I had brought the Sea Tiger launching pad under its control north of Vellankulam on the Mannar-Pooneryn coastal road. "The jetty is situated about two kilometres north of the Mannar-Kilinochchi boundary," a senior official said.

Meanwhile SLAF fighter aircraft launched from Katunayake zeroed-in on an LTTE strong point at Cheinkkonmalai about nine kilometres north of Vellankulam Tuesday afternoon. The strike was in support of the Task Force I advancing on the western flank, the military said.

Army headquarters said on Monday evening troops directed artillery and mortar fire at a cluster of LTTE boats off Adampankulama area causing the destruction of one boat.