The killing was a major success since Thamilselvan was considered the second most important leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Some people celebrated this incident by lighting crackers. But this euphoria lasted only for a few days as the Sri Lanka Army lost nearly twenty soldiers and nearly a hundred sustained injuries (most of them however received only minor injuries) in Muhamalai in the Jaffna peninsula on the day President Mahinda Rajapaksa presented the third Budget of his regime.

On Wednesday the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) commenced firing a barrage of heavy artillery and Multi-Barrel Rockets (MBRL) at the LTTE forward defence line in Muhamalai, Kilali and Pooneryn around 5 am. Backed by the artillery, mortars and MBRL, the soldiers from the 55 Division in Jaffna advanced towards the rebel lines despite heavy retaliation from the Tigers, who fired artillery and mortars at the advancing troops. But the troops walked into killing field, falling for the trap which was set in advance by the tigers. Even under this difficult situation, soldiers were able to attack highly fortified LTTE bunkers in the frontline.

However, the Tiger fire power was stronger than expected. Despite shelling and Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) on the ground the troops were able to capture the Tiger defence lines after killing a large number of its cadres. But by that time a large number of soldiers were caught in the IEDs laid by the Tigers.

After two hours of fierce fighting, during which heavy artillery and mortar shells were exchanged the military moved back to its original location. By that time a considerable number of LTTE cadres were killed or injured due to heavy resistance from the military. The military’s plan was to capture the bunker lines of the Tiger FDL, hold as much of it as possible and then withdraw after causing heavy damage to the Tigers. After three hours of fierce fighting, the military commenced moving back as the rebels attacked using its fullest power. By that time the Air Force attack helicopter Mi-24 gunship was also providing air support in order to neutralize enemy fire power.

During the withdrawal, a large number of troops were injured as the Tigers tried to round up the withdrawing troops. At around 9 am, the fighting stopped as both parties moved to their original FDLs.

Till afternoon, the Media Center for National Security (MCNS) did not reveal any details about the confrontation. At around 1.30 pm on Wednesday, Military Spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara confirmed that ‘fierce fighting broke out as Troops manning forward defences advanced to neutralize continuous LTTE attacks on the Muhamalai forward defence line and theywere able to kill over 30 LTTE cadres while we lost six soldiers.’ However by late evening on the same day, the spokesman claimed that “according to intercepted Tiger communications around 52 LTTE cadres have perished in the attacks by advancing troops. Ground troops have also confirmed that the LTTE suffered heavy casualties in the ensuing battle.According to latest information 5 more soldiers have been killed in the battle increasing the death toll to 11. 41 soldiers have sustained injuries.”

However, the Daily Mirror reliably learns that the casualty figures would be higher as well as the death toll of the military.

Soldiers injured, according to figures available, have been placed at 105. Of this number, some 20 are claimed in military parlance as P 1, which are considered serious cases and some 60 cases named as P 2. The rest are P 3 or those who received minor injuries. However the figures could be higher but this cannot be verified.

Casualties had been evacuated to the Palaly Military Hospital and later were airlifted to the Colombo National Hospital where 22 soldiers were receiving treatment, and the Military Hospital and Jayawardenapura Hospital where 25 soldiers are being treated.The rebels remain silent over their casualties and only said that one of their cadres was killed. But when compared to the military casualties the LTTE casualties would be much higher. However, this cannot be independently verified.

The LTTE, which suffered one military reversal after another, sought to make capital out of Wednesday's incident. Several pro-LTTE websites ran footage of weapons, claimed to be seized from the military to gain propaganda mileage. From this attack, the Tigers are trying to boost the morale of its cadres in the wake of repeated defeats in the eastern province as well as the death of Thamilselvan.A highly placed defense official said that the main purpose of launching this attack was to prevent the LTTE from launching a possible attack on the peninsula. By taking the first step, the military has now been able to postpone the rebel plan. However, contrary to pro-LTTE media this was not a major military operation and was a limited operation to neutralize the offensive formations of the LTTE along the lagoon.

It is also said by some that the attack was launched to gain political advantage by the government as it wanted to win the battle in Muhamalai, while the budget for next year was being presented in Parliament. But if that was the case the result was a nightmare.

Though the LTTE claimed that it has damaged the military’s Main Battle Tank and several other heavy weapons, there was no such damage received to the equipment. But the Tigers were able to capture a number of weapons including assault rifles, ammunition, RPG rounds and around 100 hand grenades.

Exactly eleven months ago - October 12, 2006- a similar blunder was made by the army where 175 soldiers were killed and over 400 were injured during a failed advance towards Pallai.

Although the damage received and the number of lives lost in the latest operation is significantly less than that of last year's, it is still a huge morale boost for the Tigers.

Though Wednesday’s setback in Muhamalai cannot be considered as a major debacle compared to the one last year however, as a professional and experienced force, the time has come for SLA’s military strength to be used strategically to win against the world’s most ruthless guerrilla organization, since it appears that the country’s decades long crisis has now reached a turning point.

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