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The residents I spoke to were confident the troops will drive the LTTE out of the peninsula once again, said Peter Cassie-Chitty in today's Daily News. I flew into Jaffna last Saturday and have toured a number of areas including Jaffna town and found the situation peaceful - this is no propaganda the market well stocked with vegetables and medicaments and prices lower than in Colombo, he reported. I visited civilian areas in many parts of Jaffna, Chunnakam and several other places, driving through towns and villages and found the situation normal. The morale of the Security Forces is high and equipped with new weapons giving them enhanced firepower, have beaten back the terrorists, wrested the initiative from them and are now on the offensive far ahead of their Forward Defence Localities. The LTTE is on the retreat with the Army's heavy guns bombarding terrorist positions. Deputy Defence Minister General Anuruddha Ratwatte has also said that he is keeping a close watch on events and that he was confident that terrorists could be routed. Army Commander Sri Lal Weerasooriya has also expressed said that the security Forces had beaten back the terrorists causing the death of almost 1000 LTTE cadres since the beginning of May. "They are definitely losing large numbers and are retreating," he said. "Enhanced fire power, new artillery and ammunition have enabled the Security Forces to 'roll back' the LTTE offensive, said Overall Operation Commander (Censored) He refused to divulge the new weapons for tactical reasons. However, he told me that the Security Forces in the North had gained an uplift in morale after new weapons and ammunition were distributed to them. He said that the soldiers were the heroes in the many battles fought. No amount of praise was enough for these valiant friends. A senior naval officer commanding naval operations in the North said that heightened naval operations were continuing and that two Sea Tiger boats have been sunk by the navy during the weekend. The movement of service personnel between the North and the South continues from Palali airport several times a day, and by sea. I visited two refugee camps housed in schools in Kokuvil. These refugees told me that they had fled following LTTE mortar attacks, which according to Security Forces were from Kolombuthurai. A Sinhalese grandmother who is among the refugees said she had left the village with only a bottle lamp as the shelling began after mid-night. Displaced villagers number approximately 800. (Censored) denies reports of continuous shelling of Jaffna town, Palali airport and Kankesanthurai harbour. They said the Security Forces had the terrorists on the defensive and on the retreat. All was calm on Saturday and Sunday. The security forces firing artillery 'Big Guns' identified terrorist targets in the Neervali area. I saw troops operating far ahead of their forward defensive localities. They were supported by continued salvos of artillery at terrorist targets.
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