President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday visited Kilinochchi as the army battled LTTE units holding over 50,000 people hostage in a civilian safety zone on the Mullaitivu coast.

In the run up to the liberation of Kilinochchi in the first week of January, the LTTE declared that the capture of the town would be a daydream of Mahinda Rajapaksa.

During his almost three-hour visit, the first by a Head of State, the President received a briefing from the army regarding operations conducted by the 57 and 58 Divisions and the ongoing final phase of the offensive to rescue the trapped civilians. Brigadier Shavindra Silva, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 58 Division operating as close as 75 metres away from the civilian zone had briefed the President of the rescue effort.

In support of the ground offensive launched in the morning, the SLAF had deployed helicopter gunships, military sources told The Island. Responding to our queries, the sources said that the government was going ahead with the rescue operation.

The President accompanied by the defence top brass flew in to Kilinochchi under an unprecedented security blanket close on the heels of the 53 Division capturing an LTTE-built earth bund cum ditch in the outskirts of the No-Fire Zone. The 53 Division scored its latest success on Wednesday. On arrival at Kilinochchi, the President received a red carpet welcome.

The army resumed attacks after the lapse of a 48-hour unilateral suspension of its offensive on the Vanni front at midnight Tuesday (April 14). Earlier the government turned down call for an indefinite extension of ‘humanitarian pause’ on the basis that the LTTE had ignored the 48-hour ceasefire.

The army said that at least 13 LTTE cadres had been killed and about 15 wounded during Wednesday’s fighting in the general area east of Puthukudirippu.

The 6 GW (Gemunu Watch) deployed on the Vanni front had sniped six LTTE cadres while the army conducting clearing operations recovered one 130 mm artillery gun trailer, three decomposed LTTE bodies, nine T-56 assault riffles and one communication set.