7/31/2007

Argus eyed Army soldiers continuing their quest for the terror weapons in the Thoppigala jungle terrain yesterday (July 30) uncovered four large stocks of weapons from Tihiliveddi, Aliya Ode, Meeyankalluwa and Motagala areas. The weapons included heavy mortar launchers, heavy machine guns, an anti air missile, claymore mine and large stocks of explosives and ammunitions.

Army made the first discovery at Tihiliveddi, a remote location from the Thoppigala jungle around 10.30a.m last morning. The soldiers dug up 26 claymore mines, 61 anti personnel mines, 3 anti tank mines, 250 detonators and 25 Kg of C4 explosives dumped inside a thicket.

The second detection was made on the same day afternoon, by the army commandos who were prodding through the harsh jungle terrain in the Aliya Ode area in Narakamula. The commandos unearthed a large stock of weapons carefully dumped by the LTTE terrorists before they fled the area. The stock found around 1.45p.m had the following items.

Weapon Quantity
T-56 assault riffles 158
Machine guns – ( MPMG, GPMG, LMG, and etc) 25
81mm mortar launchers 7
82mm mortar launchers 2
120mm mortar launchers 1
Rocket Propeller Grenade launchers 20
40mm grenade launcher 1
Sniper riffle 1
Claymore mines 10
120mm mortar gun carriers 2
Global position devices (GPS) 3
Detonator code 50 m
Safety code 50 m

The third and fourth detection were made by the troops continuing the search in the evening from Meeyankalluwa and Motagala areas. The list of items uncovered at the two locations is as follows:

Weapon Quantity
Mortar bombs 1150
T-56 assault riffles 14
Anti Air Missile 1
Multi Purpose Machine Gun (MPMG) 1
12.7mm Anti air gun 1
40mm grenade launcher 1
Shot gun 1
Claymore mines 27
T-56 ammunitions 2000
Anti Tank Mines 2
Improvised explosive devices (Bangalore Torpedoes)
85
Anti Personnel Mines 3
TNT high explosives 200 Kg
C4 high explosives 36 Kg

SL security forces captured Thoppigala, the last bastion of the LTTE terrorists in the East on 11 July . Since then troops are being engaged in the thorough search operation in the East, hunting for terror weapon dumps and mines that had been left by the fleeing terrorists. The troops had so far found large stocks of weapons including the 12-barrel-rocket-launcher that was once belonged to the LTTE terrorists. Military officials said all the weapon dumps found so far had been concealed by the terrorists with extreme care that no signs could be observed from the surface. The weapons had been applied with grease and covered up with polyethylene covers to reduce decay. However, the high level of motivation among the soldiers has enable them to find out such a large quantity of weapons spread in a vast area in a short period of time, officials further added.