MULLAITTIVU: TROOPS continued to consolidate their positions and countered heavy terrorist resistance during their advance further towards the area where LTTE terrorist leaders are confirmed to be hiding in the “No Fire Zone” (NFZ) in the past 36 hours ending Monday (4) morning.
Ground reports said at least 25-30 terrorists were killed or severely injured during intermittent clashes, from where the terrorists after keeping entrapped civilians as hostages were directing fire. A few soldiers sustained injuries in the fighting around west of VELLAMULLAVAIKKAL were evacuated for medical treatment.
Meanwhile, troops engaged in continuous search and clear operations in the general areas of VELLAMULLAVAIKKAL, VISUAMADUKULAM, RAMANATHAPURAM, PUTHUKKUDIYIRUPPU and KUPPILANKULAM in the past twenty-four hours uncovered six T-56 weapons, one Multi Purpose Machine Gun (MPMG), one hundred and twenty-five Rocket Propeller Grenades (RPG), thirty bombs, three sea mines, fifteen hand grenades, one tractor engine, one generator, twelve MPMG links, one hundred and fifty claymore mines, two hundred and thirty-two 120 mm mortar bombs, fifteen 82 mm mortar bombs, two 81 mm mortar bombs, three 60 mm mortar bombs, eight Arul bombs, two hundred pouches, one hundred and fifty-one anti personnel mines, four hundred and eighty chargers, four hundred electric detonators, seventy-two training hand grenades, 200m long safety fuses, 150m long flexible wire, one hundred and fifteen T-56 magazines, 5kg C-4 explosives, 10kg Tri Nitro Toluene (TNT) explosives and sixty anti personnel mine fuses ending Monday (4) morning.
In the meantime, troops conducting search and clear operations in the general areas of OLUMADU, PERIYAMADU and KARUKKANKULAM in VAVUNIYA during Sunday (3) recovered one T-56 weapon, one T-56 magazine, thirty rounds of T-56 ammunition, six 60mm mortar bombs, two 2.5kg claymore mines and three detonators.
