Many have hopes and desires when a New Year dawns. But it was not so with the remorseless tiger terrorists. What their intention was to take away many lives as possible. As a result, the terrorists celebrated the New Year killing innocent civilians and war heroes throughout the period in which terrorism plagued the country.
On 01st January 1988, the tiger terrorists launched attacks on several Sinhala villages in the East taking away the lives of eight innocent civilians. In the year 1995 also on a day like today unleashed a massive attack in the Mandathivu island. Three war heroes lost their lives in this attack. The country lost the valuable lives of six war heroes in a battle which raged between the soldiers and the terrorists on January 01st 1997 in the Thinnaveli area.
Olumadu was the next target of the terrorists on the first day of the year in 1998. Heavy fighting raged between the terrorists and the brave soldiers in the area. The terrorists suffered heavy injuries while eight soldiers caught up in the fighting made supreme sacrifices on behalf of the country.
In the year 2000 also on a day like today, serious fighting surfaced at Elephant Pass between the war heroes and the tiger terrorists. 33 war heroes who confronted the battle in several locations had to make supreme sacrifices on behalf of the motherland. The LTTE terrorists targeted the Kiran Army Camp on 01st January 2007. Three brave soldiers lost their lives in this attack. On 01st January 2007, the terrorists took away the lives of three innocent unarmed villages during an assault on the Bakmitiyawa village.
Clashes erupted between the ruthless tiger terrorists and the war heroes engaged in the humanitarian operations in the Iranamadu and Mullaitivu areas on 01st January 2009. Six war heroes made supreme sacrifices on behalf of the motherland.
Terrorism which scourged the country in this manner for 30 years, had taken away a total of 93 lives on 01st January throughout the dark era. Among them were 16 civilians. The other 77 were war heroes. This figure would have considerably risen if terrorism was not annihilated from the country due to the strong dedication of the gallant soldiers, under the leadership of the President who is the Commander in Chief and the guidance of Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.
It is the responsibility of the nation to keep this in mind today, the dawn of the New Year and throughout the year.
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