The Sri Lankan military on May 24 said that from the day the ‘Wanni battle’ took a fierce turn, over 9,100 LTTE cadres have surrendered to them. Military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara was reported as saying that the continuous defeats of the LTTE made its cadres to abandon the outfit in large numbers. “Over 7,237 terrorists who had surrendered to the military are now being rehabilitated at various centres. Among them are 1,601 women. Another batch of 202 terrorists, including 80 men, are in IDP camps.” They were identified by the military and separated from the refugees in the welfare camps.
He said, “They surrendered to the troops when the military offensive got tough. The 202 terrorists, including women, are well-trained.” Brigadier Nanayakkara said that over 2,379 cadres, who fled from the LTTE clutches in the last phases of fighting along with civilians, were identified by the military.
Over 2,065 men cadres surrendered to the troops at the Forward Defence Lines as they were disillusioned with their leadership. “They had sensed the defeat and realised that the LTTE cadres had to fight to protect the life of the LTTE leader and not for Eelam.”
Brigadier Nanayakkara said while the military killed over 22,000 Tigers, 6,261 members of the security forces died ever since military operations began in August 2006, while 29,551 were injured with 2,556 having been left disabled.
The spokesperson said that over 271,967 refugees had sought protection under the government and majority of them had been kept as hostages by the late LTTE leader. They fled the No-Fire Zone in Puthumathalan despite the tough warnings by the Tiger cadres from April 20 to 22.
“Having successfully concluded the world’s biggest hostage rescue operation, the military saved the lives of over 1,80,000 people without firing a single round of bullet. The Internally Displaced Persons are being facilitated in government welfare centres in 29 locations, including schools.”