Over 6,000 killed, almost 30,000 wounded in Eelam War IV

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday said that the armed forces had paid a heavy price in their campaign against the LTTE. He said that the armed forces lost 6,260 officers and men in action since the outbreak of hostilities at Mavil-aru in June 2006.

Appearing on a live political programme last night, the war veteran said that 29,551 officers and men had been wounded in action. Of them 2,556 had been permanently disabled.

He said that their sacrifices hadn’t been in vain.

The armed forces had thwarted an internationally backed LTTE attempt to divide the country.

Dismissing allegations that the Rajapaksa administration launched a war at a tremendous cost to the country, he emphasised the government had to meet a growing LTTE threat. As part of the government’s strategy, the armed forces had to be strengthened rapidly, he said.

The Defence Secretary said that the operation conducted to regain Mavil-aru had been a limited offensive but the President directed an all out attack only after the LTTE launched a series of coordinated attacks in the second week of August 2006.

He emphasised the importance of having friendly ties with India. He asserted that this facilitated the Sri Lankan military campaign against the LTTE. He pointed out that many foreign governments had given in to the Tamil Diaspora with them especially targeting the country over human rights violations.