Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) mounted their first counter-offensive against Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Vanni battlefront killing at least 60 soldiers and wounding another 150, according LTTE officials.
LTTE counter-offensive units carried out a preemptive strike on SLA offensive formation in Murikandi - Iranaimadu area Saturday, December 20, pushing back the
The preemptive strike was carried out as the
The first LTTE-claimed preemptive strike comes in the wake of
Sunday Times newspaper columnist, Iqbal Athas, reporting on the LTTE counter-offensive wrote: “heavy fighting broke out after guerrillas launched a counter attack on troop positions at a point between Terumurukandi and Iranamadu. The location is east of Adampan.”
"The [LTTE fighters] attacked in four waves, one after another," a high-ranking military officer speaking on grounds of anonymity told Sunday Times.
"There were several close quarter battles where the [LTTE fighters] used small arms and machine gun fire. In others, mortars began to rain in. It was a mortar monsoon." The officer further told the newspaper.