Sri Lankan Navy kills17 LTTE cadres and foils their attack on Pesalai Police.

(November, 23, Trincomalee, Sri Lanka Guardian) In a bid of abortive attempt to attack the police, a cluster of few LTTE boats mingling with fishing boats, approached by sea towards the Pesalai Police in Mannar in the morning today (November 23rd) around 8.30.

On detection of the approaching LTTE craft, naval craft rushed to the location and chased away those boats with the augmented fire support extended by the ground troops.

One LTTE craft sustained damages in the brief confrontation that took place and it was towed by the fleeing LTTE boats towards the un-liberated area in Vedithaltievu.

Monitoring of LTTE radio communication transmissions later revealed that the seventeen (17) LTTE cadres have been killed in the confrontation.
Names of thirteen cadres killed are;

1. Ramachandran (0027),2. Gajendran (00462),3. Elilan (1278),4. Thamul Priyan (1131),5. Thangei Maram, 6. Thangei Murasu (216) ,7. Arichchandran (950),8. Arun Dewan (1593),9. Piyala Rasa,10. Aha Amuda (1112),11. Puyal Rasi, 12. Karikalan ,13. Piyawan

Numbers of four cadres, who also perished in the confrontation, are;

1. 437 , 2. 1256, 3. 492,4. 1480

Their names are yet to be known.

However, no damages or casualties caused to the naval troops or police.

Meanwhile, Naval patrol craft rescued four Tamil youth at sea, who were fleeing from LTTE conscription, in Pallemunai, Mannar on the 21st November 2007 around 7 a.m.

The group consisting of two males and two females were in the ages between 15 and 23. They had fled from Kilinochchi, Vedithaltivu and Punagar areas where the LTTE carries out forcible recruitment of youth and children to replenish their fast dwindling cadres. The youth had been swimming towards Pallemunai at great risks to their lives when they were spotted and rescued by the naval personnel.

The highly exhausted youth, who were under fatigue from swimming for hours at sea, had revealed that they fled from the LTTE clutches due to the harassment, forcible recruitment and abductions carried out by the LTTE in their residential areas where the terror outfit tries to impose its dictates at gun point. The youth had further confessed that they were threatened with torture unless they surrendered themselves to undergo combat training in LTTE camps. The two male youth were aged 15 and 20 respectively while the females were 15 and 23 in age.