Battle for control of highway to Jaffna

A terse statement from the Defence Ministry said only that “having overcome the resistance, troops continued to advance further.” The spokesman said that the soldiers were pushing forward from Omanthai towards the north-east. Though not specified, Puliyankulam, the next military target on the highway, is situated slightly north-east of Omanthai, which was captured by the military in the first few days of the operation.

Reports from Vavuniya, prior to the advance, from about 1 am on Saturday, said that the army began pounding areas towards Puliyankulam from Omanthai with artillery. In the last week, several pieces of long range artillery have been moved from the Vavuniya army camp to the new forward defence lines at Omanthai.

Not unexpectedly, the LTTE hit back with their own artillery, raining shells on Omanthai and managing to prevent any significant advance by the soldiers. But it is believed that the LTTE will not be able to stop the advance altogether.

“We are determined to open the road, we are also prepared for heavy losses,” a senior military official said. Sources said the army has prepared to fight for over a month to secure the land supply route that will link Jaffna peninsula to the rest of the country through territory held by the LTTE.

It is believed that as the troops advance on the highway, the column that started out from Weli Oya and captured Nedunkerni in the north-east last week, will also push ahead and link up with the main column at Puliyankulam.

Meanwhile, in the capital, an action group of Tamil citizens has called a meeting of non-LTTE Tamil parties and groups and prominent Tamil intellectuals to discuss an initiative to ask the government to stop the war and resume negotiations with the LTTE.

The action group has suggested that all Tamil political parties adopt a resolution urging the government to stop the war and begin negotiations with the LTTE.

The bottom line for such a settlement should be the demands of all Tamil parties, including the LTTE, at the 1986 Indian government organised conference at Thimpu in , specifying the right to self-determination and the right to the “Tamil homeland” of north-east Lanka.