COLOMBO (AFP) — A massive Sri Lankan government offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels is taking longer than expected because of concern for civilians trapped in the battle zone, the country's president said Tuesday.Mahinda Rajapakse told the state-run Daily News newspaper that his security forces were "fighting under severe constraints, to cause no harm or loss to innocent, civilian human life.""The battle against terrorism, which we could convincingly win within a few days, is nevertheless prolonged due to the grave concern and the optimum caution exercised by the highly disciplined armed forces," he said.The president's remarks came a day after the defence ministry admitted that scores of its troops had been killed or injured in fighting with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) over the weekend.

The Associated Press Published Colombo, Sri Lanka :

Sri Lankan army troops foiled a Tamil Tiger rebel attack on the government's defense line in the war-ravaged northern region, inflicting heavy damages to rebels, the military said, Tuesday. The assault came as government forces closed in on the rebels' administrative capital of Kilinochchi in a campaign aimed at routing the guerrillas and ending the 25-year-old civil war that has killed more than 70,000 people. 

Tamil guerrillas launched the attack on the defense line in the Mullaitivu district, just south of Kilinochchi, on Monday evening, but soldiers foiled the rebel attempt, a military statement said. The statement on Tuesday did not provide details of casualties, but said soldiers inflicted "heavy damages" to the rebels. Separately, Monday, advancing troops captured a half-mile (0.80-kilometer) stretch of territory south of strategic Vannerikulam village in Kilinochchi, said the statement.

The military announced Monday that soldiers had seized Vannerikulam and moved a step closer to capturing the militants' de facto capital in north. Government troops have made dramatic progress on the northern fronts in the past months, seizing a series of rebel bases and chunks of land, but the rebels have offered stiff resistance.

by :B. Muralidhar Reddy

Tigers make a “desperate attempt to retain Palk Strait lifeline”

‘Earth-bunds’ in Akkarayankulam ‘pierced’

19 fortified bunkers captured since Saturday

COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan military on Sunday claimed to have overrun the LTTE’s ‘last major defence’ south of Kilinochchi, the LTTE’s administrative headquarters.For several days now, the military and the LTTE have been engaged in pitched battles in Kilinochchi’s vicinity.However, the military conceded that its march towards Kilinochchi has slowed down due to heavy rain. “It is a matter of days before the troops enter Kilinochchi town,” said a senior military officer.A Defence Ministry statement said the 57th Division’s soldiers ‘pierced’ LTTE-built ‘earth-bunds’ in Akkarayankulam — the LTTE’s ‘last major defence’ south of Kilinochchi. It claimed that 19 fortified bunkers had been overrun since Saturday.

Oct 20, Colombo:

A bomb explosion at the central bus stand last night in Sri Lanka capital, Colombo, damaged two buses, but no civilian casualties have been reported, the Pettah Police said.According to Pettah Police sources, a parcel bomb has been placed between two parked buses at the bus station. The two buses sustained minor damages, the Police said.

Colombo, Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka's military said Sunday that government forces had attacked the Tamil separatists' last line of defense near the rebels' administrative capital and captured 19 rebel bunkers.In fighting across the north Saturday, soldiers pierced an earthen embankment which the military claimed was the rebels' "last major defense" near Kilinochchi, the defense ministry said in a statement Sunday.Soldiers captured a part of embankment and 19 rebel bunkers, the ministry said.It did not provide specific details on casualties but said the rebels "suffered significant attrition in terms of man and material" and that several soldiers died and many others were wounded in the fighting.Rebel spokesmen could not be contacted for comment on the military reports because most communication lines to guerrilla-held regions have been severed.

by: Chamikara Weerasinghe

The Tamil United Liberation Front has appealed to governing officials in the Tamil Nadu (TN) to exert pressure on the LTTE to set free those Tamil civilians trapped in Kilinochchi so that they may go anywhere they want to. The moment the LTTE opens its iron gate, the displaced persons will move out in no time and get back to their respective homes, the president of TULF V. Anandasangaree has said in a letter addressed to Tamil Nadu, titled Appeal to the leaders of Political Parties and the People of Tamil Nadu. The TULF President has said that if Tamil Nadu has any sympathy for the Tamil people who are suffering under the subjugation of the LTTE, it has a moral obligation to win them (the Tamil public) the fundamental right of being able to choose the place they wish to live.

by: Chaminda PERERA

OMANTHAI: The WFP food convoy which returned to Vavuniya after the LTTE artillery attack on Thursday crossed the Omanthai checkpoint yesterday to reach Killinochchi and Mullaitivu districts through an alternative road. Essential Services Additional Secretary D. Liyanarachchi said 50 lorries of essential commodities dispatched by the WFO, in addition to 20 lorries daily sent to the uncleared areas by the Government through the respective Government Agents, have crossed the Omanthai Checkpoint yesterday. These lorries will reach Killinochchi and Mullaitivu via Puliyankulam, Nedunkerni, Oddusudan. Liyanarachchi was speaking at a press briefing on the Government’s humanitarian assistance programme at the Meteorological Department yesterday. He said the Government dispatched 20 lorries of essential food items on Thursday too despite the artillery attack on WFO food convoy. The 50 lorries that left for Wanni yesterday carry over 750 MT tonne of essential items.

The Sri Lankan Government has informed the European Commission that it was not willing to submit itself to any form of investigation. In an urgent missive dispatched to European Commission yesterday, Sri Lanka Government told very clearly that it would not submit itself to any form of investigations at the cost of country’s sovereignty to obtain GSP Plus concessions. Already in an interview with Asian Tribune Prof. G. L. Peiris, Minister of Export Development & International Trade, said that Sri Lanka is naturally not happy at European Commission’s insistence to investigate some issues.

The Government of Russia has extended its full cooperation to the Government's endeavour to eliminate terrorism in Sri Lanka by providing military technology and expertise to Sri Lanka. This was revealed at a discussion held between the Defence Ministry Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and high powered Russian officials during Mr. Rajapaksa's visit to Russia recently.

The visit followed an invitation extended by the Russian Minister of Defence, Anatoliy Serdyukov.

The Sri Lankan delegation was welcomed with special honours at the Red Square and Kremlin and had discussions with officials of the Russian Defence Ministry and other establishments.

by: Franklin R. Satyapalan

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse yesterday rejected the contention that there will be no political solution once the LTTE is defeated."This is only an attempt to save the LTTE from imminent defeat at the hands of the security forces who are making great sacrifices to liberate our motherland," he said.Rajapakse called on the whole country to ensure that unnecessary obstacles are not thrown in the way of the forward march by the security forces by calling for protests and demonstrations against the government at this very crucial juncture "when we are knocking at victory’s door."He called on the political parties in Tamil Nadu not to unfairly politicize the issue of Tamil civilians in the North for their own benefit and bring undue pressure on the Indian government to save the LTTE terrorists from imminent defeat.