On May 25, the LTTE suffered a setback when their OIC of the Nagarkovil Forward Defence Line and former commander of the Charles Anthony Brigade, Lt. Col. Veeramani, was killed in an accidental explosion.

A few days before his death, Veeramani complained that the SLA troopers were provoking LTTE fighters by hurling stones and firing shots towards their positions.

The mainland Jaffna Peninsula had been cut off by land from the rest of Sri Lanka after the Tigers (LTTE) overran the Elephant Pass base in early 2000.

During that time, the LTTE suffered another setback when the commander of the Victor Anti-Tank Unit, Lt.Col Akbar, was killed by random SLA shelling on October 7 while inspecting the forward defence lines at Muhamalai.

It resulted in the biggest loss of life and equipment for the military in four years with 129 soldiers killed and 519 wounded with six armoured vehicles, four T-55 tanks and two BMPs either destroyed or damaged.