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The Army has confirmed total control of the Muttur area, following heavy fighting between the Forces and the LTTE. “We have regained total control of Muttur”, said Army spokesperson Major Rajapaksa. The LTTE withdrew from Muttur and “returned to their CFA demarcated territory”, claiming it withdrew “having accomplished our humanitarian and defensive objectives”, as quoted in the Hindustan Times. Earlier the LTTE had stated it closed the Mawilaru sluice gates in protest of the EU ban, which listed the group as a terrorist organization. Later it changed its story, claiming that the Mawilaru anicut was blocked by the people of the area in response to the failure of the Government to build a new tank to provide water to the people in nearby areas. The LTTE claims the government had imposed an embargo on essential food items such as milk powder for babies, and had not provided drinking water to the people. Describing this claims as “hallucination of a wounded Tiger”, a Government spokesperson said the government provided billions worth of essential items – from food, education to medicine – free of charge everyday to the Tamils of the north and the east. “The LTTE does not provide a single essential commodity to the Tamil people. On the contrary, the Tigers grab the food supplies and other items sent the Tamils and sell it on the black market,” he said. “Are they LTTE controlled areas or LTTE extortion areas”, he said. He further said that all communities in government controlled areas had freedom of movement. The spokesperson said the government aware of its responsibilities towards all citizens would certainly provide facilities for water supply to people even in areas controlled by the terrorist extortionists of the LTTE. However, he saw no basis for the LTTE to use this issue to cover for its cowardly act of denying civilians of their water.
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