ISRAELI UAV HELPED TO TRACK TO KILL LTTE LEADERS!!!

Prabhakaran, son, Pottu Amman, Soosai, Nadesan, Pulidevan all killed
UAV used in frantic search for the fleeing ambulance carrying prized terrorists
By Shamindra Ferdinando

The Sri Lanka Army in the early hours of yesterday (May 18) thwarted an attempt by LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, his son Charles Anthony and several other senior cadres to escape in two vehicles, including a seized army ambulance, killing them all.

The army had fired at the speeding vehicles, military sources said. Among the dead were LTTE Intelligence Wing leader Pottu Amman, Sea Tiger leader Soosai, S. Pulidevan, head of the so called Peace Secretariat, Nadesan, political wing leader and Ramesh.

The daring escape bid was made amidst a two-pronged assault spearheaded by suicide cadres launched on the 53 and 59 Divisions at 1.30 a.m. on Sunday. Authoritative sources said that as the army battled the lagoon borne attackers, the LTTE leaders had slipped in to the government-held area and seized the vehicles. The LTTE had sacrificed about 100 cadres to facilitate Prabhakaran’s escape.

But the army had acted swiftly to block escape routes. Sources said that the SLAF had deployed Israeli built Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to help track down the vehicle. During yesterday’s chaos, the SLAF had checked with the Navy after detecting a cluster of small boats operating in close proximity to Jordanian ship Farah III run aground off Karaymullivaikkal. The detection fuelled instant speculation whether the LTTE was making an attempt to evacuate its leader.

Sources said that the escape bid was made after the Army had reduced the area under LTTE control to about 800 sq. metres in the Mullaitivu district. Contrary to reports that that suggested Charles Anthony had escaped through the naval cordon and reached Malaysia and Prabhakaran had two submarines especially built to use in an emergency, the entire leadership had been trapped on the ground.

Although the Army had the opportunity to mount a heavy artillery barrage and call in the Jet Squadrons to zero-in on the LTTE-held area, the ground commanders had favoured a ground assault. The LTTE had left several small groups to face the Army as the leaders attempted to reach the dense Mullaitivu jungles.

‘Colonel’ Ramesh killed along with several other seniors had been with Karuna Amman before the then Battcaloa commander had quit the organisation in March 2004 over differences with Prabhakaran. Ramesh succeeded Karuna subsequently but was later recalled to Kilinochchi.

Ex-policeman, Nadesan who headed the ‘Tamileelam police’ replaced LTTE political wing leader Thamilselvan killed in an SLAF strike in November 2007. Troops had also recovered the body of Nadesan’s Sinhala wife.

The Army said that following operations carried out on Sunday, the area held by the LTTE had been reduced to about 100 sq. metres. Well informed sources said that at least four LTTE groups had been trapped in the area cleared by yesterday.

The Army launched operations on Sunday targeting the remaining area held by the LTTE after troops thwarted Sunday’s escape bid. This followed the total evacuation of civilians trapped on the Mullaitivu coastal area. Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told The Island that the Army was able to achieve its objective without causing civilian casualties.

The Army said that the 53 and 58 Divisions along with the Special Forces and Commandos had been involved in the operations. The army also said that Kapil Amman (LTTE Intelligence), Ilango (Tamileelam police chief) and Sudarman, a close associate of Prabhakaran’s son , too, had been killed.

Kapil Amman had been a key intelligence operative responsible for operations in the South including assassinations and bombings.

ICRC spokesperson Ms Sarasi Wijeratne yesterday told The Island that as they had lost contact with ICRC staff on the ground north of Mullaitivu she couldn’t comment on the situation. She said that the ICRC had offered to deploy a team to assist in the evacuation of the sick and wounded. The ICRC has also offered to provide assistance to people arriving in welfare centres.


According to her, a tripartite agreement to evacuate the sick and wounded from the Mullaitivu coast was launched on February 10 this year. She said that they had evacuated 13,769 men, women and children by the time the operation came to an end on May 9.

Meanwhile, the Army said that troops engaged in clearing operations in the Karaymullivaikkal area over the weekend recovered bodies of 43 LTTE cadres along with 36 T-56 assault rifles, 30 T-81 weapons, two FNC weapons, two Rocket Propelled Guns (RPGs), twenty-one hand grenades, eleven communication sets, seven LTTE flags, five area maps, one Global Positioning System (GPS), 3 m detonator codes, Rs. 101,000/= in cash, one 120mm mortar barrel, one 81 mm bipod, two 81 mm base plates, three 60mm mortar tubes, three Light Machine Guns (LMGs), one MPMG and one 40mm grenade launcher.

The army also conducting clearing operations at Vellamullivaikkal and Wadduwakal recovered 35 LTTE bodies, 368 T-56 assault rifles, 3 T-81 weapons, 9 light machine guns, ten RPGs, four 60 mm tubes, one recoilless gun, forty-six LMG drums, fifteen T-56 magazines, nine disposable RPGs, one gas gun, two pistols, three 12.7mm bipods, ten MPMGs, two 81 mm mortar tubes, three 12.7 guns, two radars, one unicorn, three silencer guns, five shot guns, fifteen I-com sets, one hundred rounds of Heavy Machine Gun (HMG) ammunition, forty rounds of shotgun ammunition, one telescope, twenty 120 mm barrels, T-54 tank spare parts, one 40mm Grenade Launcher, two damaged 130mm guns, one paddle gun, forty radar monitors, one sniper weapon, twenty-seven hand grenades, two claymore mines, two firing devices, one remote controller, one 5.56 mm gun with three magazines and one hundred and eighty-five ammunition and one M-16 weapon.

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