ARMY TROOPS OVERRUN FOUR LTTE CAMPS IN THE JUNGLES OF TRINCOMALEE KILLING ATLEAST 20

By Walter Jayawardhana

The Sri Lanka troops overran four Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam held military camps in the Trincomalee district inflicting heavy casualties among the separatists during a raid conducted before the dawn on Friday.

The Sri Lanka army troops backed by artillery and multi barrel rocket launchers killed more than 20 Tiger guerillas that came a day after the LTTE threatened to cover Sri Lanka in a blood bath if the troops did not stop the offensive.

In a separate incident the LTTE fighters killed three and wounded 13 elite police commandos by ambushing an armored vehicle by a roadside bombin the Batticaloa District.

Military spokesman said that they have three army camps in their hands and a smaller satellite camp after they fired multi barrel rockets and artillery into the camps forcing some of the Tiger fighters to flee.

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam military spokesman Rasiah Ilantheriyan downplayed the capture by telling that the government troops are just walking into abandoned LTTE camps for propaganda gains.

But he said what the government troops are taking are LTTE held land for the last 24 years in Trincomalee jungles and the government is asking for a full scale war.

Ilantheriyan said, “"They are not conquering the jungle, they are just walking in it," He also added by saying he had no reports of casualties. "Now the Sri Lankan government is asking for a full-scale war... If they are asking for war, they are going to have it everywhere in this island."

Ilantheriyan also issued such warnings before the government troops captured Sampur and Vakarai in the Eastern province.

Ilantheriyan accused the international community for being silent when the 2002 ceasefire agreement signed between former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was openly flouted.

The capture by the government troops in the Trincomalee bases at the time they are also making preparations to capture the large LTTE base in the Thoppigala jungles further south in the Ampara District in the Eastern Province. Thousands of civilians have fled the area into government controlled areas already.