Word: mullaitivu
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...promised a "military solution" to the Tamil question. He is almost there. After months of intense fighting in the LTTE-controlled areas of the Tamil-majority north, the army has captured Kilinochchi, the rebels' administrative capital, and it is moving toward their last strongholds in the jungles around Mullaitivu...
...Kilinochchi's importance is only partly strategic. It is one of several key areas of territory along the A9 highway, a road toward the northern tip of the teardrop-shaped island and one of the main supply routes into Mullaitivu, the thick jungle areas where the LTTE is believed to base its operations. Symbolically, Kilinochchi is more important. The 463 square mile (1,200 sq. km.) district it governs has been under LTTE control for more than 10 years, ever since the Sri Lankan Army lost a battle known as Operation Unceasing Waves in September...
...state that stand in defiance of Sri Lanka. But it is no longer the home of rebel leadership or military operations. "Kilinochchi was ceded by them a long time ago," says Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, a public policy group based in Colombo. "Mullaitivu is a much more vital strategic asset...
...Capturing Mullaitivu will not be easy. The terrain is dense jungle, and government forces will face the most experienced of the Tigers' cadres. Even if Mullaitivu were to fall, the Tigers could simply move underground, returning to the guerrilla tactics such as suicide bombings which made them famous and have contributed to the conflict's enormous death toll: more than 65,000 deaths since 1983. "Even if you occupy Kilinochchi, you're not going to defeat the LTTE as such," says Gajan Ponnambalam, a member of parliament whose party, the Tamil National Alliance, is sympathetic to the LTTE. "They...
...Today, those left in Mullaitivu fear that war is returning. In the past two months, rebels and their proxies have carried out assassinations and deadly mine attacks on military convoys. On Jan. 7, a speedboat laden with explosives was driven into a Sri Lankan navy pursuit craft anchored a few hours south of Mullaitivu, killing 13 sailors. The Sri Lankan army and its paramilitary allies behave little better, raping, abducting and executing civilians thought to support Tamil nationalism. Both sides accuse the other, explaining any killings carried out by their side of the divide as forgivable retaliation. The violence over...