MoD says LTTE base bombed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence put out a communiqué this afternoon claiming that a major LTTE base northwest of Mankulam was bombed this morning around 10.30 a.m.

Other army sources claimed that LTTE transmissions monitored later had revealed that several key Tiger leaders were killed in the morning raid.

None of the claims have been independently confirmed.

The MoD communiqué, however, did not mention the nature of damages the SLAF had managed to inflict on the suspected LTTE base.

Sources in Vavuniya expressed surprise that the SLAF had been able to detect an LTTE base at all.

They said that normally LTTE bases are well camouflaged and generally have been impervious to sophisticated aerial surveillance.

This, they pointed out, was the main reason for the Kfirs hitting, more often than not, civilian areas.

The MoD communiqué said - "On 19 November, around 10. 30 a.m. northwest of Mankulam the UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) whilst on a mission over Mankulam Kilinochchi area, sighted an established terrorist camp located in a thick forest with many vehicles moving in and around the camp.

On probing further and after identifying the terrorist camp positively, kfir ground attack aircraft engaged the terrorist location effectively".

The Sri Lankan government has banned reporters from the island's war zones, making the verification of claims very difficult.