Battle of Puthukkudiyirippu
| Battle of Puthukkudiyirippu | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Sri Lankan Civil War, 2008–2009 SLA Northern offensive | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Military of Sri Lanka | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Lt. Gen Sarath Fonseka: Brig Shavendra Silva[2] Maj. Gen Kamal Gunaratne[3] Col G.V. Ravipriya[3] |
Velupillai Prabhakaran: Pottu Amman Colonel Theepan Colonel Bhanu[2] | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
|
Sri Lanka Army: 58 Division 53 Division Task Force 8[2] | ? | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 420[1] | |||||||||
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The Battle Of Puthukkudiyirippu was a land battle fought between the Sri Lankan Military, 58 Division, 53 Division and Task Force 8 and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for the control of the last stronghold held by the LTTE. This battle is a part of the Northern Theater of Eelam War IV during the Sri Lankan civil war.
Battle
The Battle of Puthukkudiyirippu was an armed confrontation over control over the AGA division of Puthukkudiyirippu in Sri Lanka between the 55, 58th and 53rd Division of the Sri Lankan Military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the Sri Lankan civil war, fought from the first months of 2009 till the end of April 2009. Puthukkudiyirippu was the final LTTE base held by the LTTE during the Northern Theater of Eelam War IV.
The battle of Puthukkudiyirippu was different from other battles because the area was an urban terrain. Both parties adopted hit and run strategies until a decisive battle was fought in Anandapuram junction where more than 600 LTTE carders and an array of top leaders were killed in five days.[4][5] A major tiger offensive was met with a counter offensive, outflanking and encircling an entire division of LTTE in an area of 2 square kilometers.
Senior LTTE cadres killed in action
LTTE lost all their best fighters they ever had in one single battle.
- Theepan -[2] Theepan was LTTE’s de facto deputy military chief.
- Ruben[2]
- Nagesh[2]
- Gadaphi (former body guard of Prabakaran)[2]
- Vidusha ('Malathi' female wing head)[2]
- Durga ('Soothiya' female wing head)[2]
- Kamalini[2]
See also
References
- 1 2 "Sri Lanka Army - Defenders of the Nation". Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence
- 1 2 Daily News - government owned newspaper
- ↑ "Anatomy of the LTTE military debacle at Aanandapuram". dbsjeyaraj.com. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- ↑ "Top Tiger leaders killed in a major debacle for LTTE". dbsjeyaraj.com. Retrieved 14 December 2014.