Sri Lankan Troops Regain Key Highway in NorthSri Lankan troops regained control over a strategic highway including a bridge in northern Jaffna peninsula on Sunday after a major offensive against separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, The Sunday Times reported.In a surprise four-hour military operation that began at dawn on Sunday, government forces regained the full control over the entire A-9 highway that links Jaffna town to Chavakachcheri, the second largest town in the peninsula after the Navatkuli bridge was retaken from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The Navatkuli bridge and the other one at Kaithady captured earlier, which was under repairing, had been blasted by the LTTE rebels. "There has been little resistance during the offensive and it appears that the Tigers fled when the army started to advance," a military spokesman said. Only two soldier were injured in anti-personnel mine blasts. The LTTE rebels declared on December 21 that they will start a month-long ceasefire from midnight on December 24 "as a goodwill measure to facilitate the peace process." However, the government responded the LTTE ceasefire offer two days later by saying it will consider a ceasefire only after peace negotiations between the government and the LTTE rebels proceed to the mutual satisfaction of both sides. In two consecutive days after LTTE's ceasefire offer government forces launched massive attacks against the Tiger rebels in the northern Jaffna peninsula, inflicting heavy casualties to the rebels and recapturing 34 kilometers of land. The LTTE rebels have been fighting since 1983 for a separate Tamil state in the north and east of the country. In the past they have entered peace negotiations with the government several times but they violated agreements with the government and resumed fighting soon after. |
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