Sri Lankan soldiers captured 4km from Iranamadu on 27th February

Reports of heavy fighting near Iranamadu junction have been confirmed by the Sri Lankan government in their daily defence report for the 27th of February. There is also a POW video showing Sri Lankan soldiers claimed to have been captured at Therumurukandi on February 27th. Therumurukandi junction (marked with a red 'X' on the map) is located 4 km from Iranamadu junction, and just 22 kilometers south of Kilinochi. The area was supposedly captured by the Sri Lankan army on December 11th, 2008 (http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20081211_01), but there have been rumors of heavy fighting in the area as reported in these collumns on 26th February.

The LTTE has refrained from reporting the areas their soldiers are operating in, and as such there has been no word from the LTTE about the heavy fighting in Therumurukandi , nor in Oddusudan. The Sri Lankan military website mentioned the fighting briefly as follows:

"55, 58, 59 Division troops as well as those of the Task Force - III and IV fighting and clearing the general areas of AMPALAWANPOKKANAI, east of PUTHUKKUDIYIRUPPU, CHALAI and THERUMURIKKANDI areas had several rounds of fighting throughout Thursday. Reports said troops inflicted heavy damages on the terrorists at different fronts. A handful of soldiers also sustained injuries during those confrontations."

(from February 27th report at Army.lk)
http://www.army.lk/morenews.php?id=20473

We should note how close Therumurukandi is to the Iranamadu tank bund. It appears if the LTTE wants to burst the Iranamadu tank bund, they are easily within striking distance. Other reports we have received indicate the LTTE is operating in many areas far from the supposed front lines, deep within "government controlled" territory.