Around 1,500 Sri Lankan troops were killed or unaccounted for (MIA) and large amounts of military equipment captured by the LTTE.

After losing control of the Jaffna peninsula in late 1995 and early 1996 the LTTE retreated to the Vanni on the mainland, saving most of their weapons and establishing their headquarters in the town of Kilinochchi.

The isolated camp was relieved when the Sri Lankan military launched its first amphibious operation Operation Sea Breeze under the command of Major General Denzil Kobbekaduwa which successfully relieved the besieged army camp and expanded it, during which the entire population of the town of Mullaitivu fled the town.

[14][15] The base was surrounded by the sea to the east, the Nanthi Kadal lagoon to west and dense vegetation to the north and south.

Stationed at the base was a detachments of the 4th Field Regiment, Sri Lanka Artillery armed with two 122 mm Type 54 howitzers, as well as other support units.

[19] However, in order to divert attention away from Mullaitivu, the LTTE started amassing cadres near the military bases at Elephant Pass and Pooneryn.

[19] LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran had been personally involved in the preparations for the attack which was coded named Operation Unceasing Waves.

[20] On the day of the attack the two most senior officers of the base, the brigade commander Colonel Lawrence Fernando and his deputy Major Gunaratne were away in Colombo on duty leave.

After eight hours of heavy fighting the LTTE entered the center of the base, having over-run the forward defence lines and clusters of mini-bases.

[14][23] News of the attack soon reached Colombo and within hours of the start of the attack the three service commanders - Lieutenant General Rohan Daluwatte (army), Rear Admiral Mohan Samarasekera (navy) and Air Marshall Oliver Ranasinghe (air force) - were flown to the Elephant Pass military base to oversee the rescue effort.

[19] Troops based in Jaffna peninsula were boarded onto a merchant vessel at Kankesanthurai and dispatched to Mullaitivu, 30 kilometres (19 miles) away.

[19] The air force's MI-24 helicopter gunships, Pucara bombers and Kfir interceptor jets began strafing LTTE in and around the base.

[19] 275 commandos from the 1st battalion of the Special Forces Regiment, led by Lieutenant Colonel A. F. Lafir, were dispatched to the area using MI-17 troop transport helicopters.

[16][17][19] The commandos were to establish a beach-head so that the infantry reinforcements from Jaffna peninsula could make an amphibious landing but as they advanced towards the base they were slowed down by heavy resistance from the LTTE.

[20] The LTTE, who were now fighting on two fronts, concentrated their efforts on the base which was entirely captured by the evening of 18 July 1996, overrunning the last pockets of resistance.

[19] After much delay, the infantry reinforcements from Jaffna peninsula reached the high seas off Mullaitivu at dawn on 19 July 1996 but it was afternoon when they began moving towards the coast, escorted by navy patrol boats.

[19] On 20 July 1996 one of the MI-17 helicopters sustained damage to its fuel pipeline following fire from LTTE but managed to safely return to a neighbouring base.

[19] The two Special Forces Regiment battalions eventually linked up and established a beach-head 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) south of Mullaitivu.

[19] One soldier had managed to swim, under LTTE fire, to a naval patrol boat only for his identity to be scrutinised heavily before being allowed on board.

[19] News of the battle was widely reported around the world but the Sri Lankan public were kept largely in the dark as a result of censorship.

[32] Censorship was lifted on 8 October 1996 when Deputy Defence Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte, the President's first cousin once removed, informed Parliament that the strength of the base was 1,407 but that only 12 had been killed in action.

[14][37] The Sri Lanka Army saw the complete loss of its 25 Brigade with its two regular infantry battalions, support units and equipment.

[19] Asia Week reported that some of the soldiers who survived had told the board of inquiry that they had watched LTTE cadres walking through the camp following the battle and summarily execute wounded captives.

[42] In one case, an officer who managed to swim to a navy vessel claimed that he witnessed the execution of soldiers who surrender at the beach by the LTTE.

[44] Lack of preparation for a massive attack with multiple rings of trenchers and communication trenchers, aggressive reconnaissance patrolling along the defense perimeter and beyond by the Mullaitivu garrison due to man power shortages faced by the Sri Lanka Army in general at this time and its lack of training in night fighting have been attributed to the loss of the Mullaitivu base.

[14] On 26 July the army launched Operation Sath Jaya from its base in Elephant Pass and after heavy fighting captured Kilinochchi in late September 1996.

[14] The LTTE launched Operation Unceasing Waves II recapturing the town of Kilinochchi in late September 1998 and making it its administrative centre for the next ten years.

[52][53] It then launched Operation Unceasing Waves III in which it captured the strategic Elephant Pass routing the infantry division that defended it and was on the verge of recapturing the Jaffna peninsula entrapping over 35,000 of the Sri Lankan military, until a stalemate was reached along the Muhamalai and Nagarkovil lines.