MUTTUR CIVILIANS TO FACE BACKLASH It was their worst nightmare coming back to life, for the second time in a month. For the civilians in Muttur, the leaflet that appeared in their town on September 22 morning was straight from hell. An organisation calling itself the Tamileelam Force to Regain the Homeland warned that Muttur was by no means safe. The leaflet said that preparations have been finished on an impending attack and it was on its way. For the civilians, they were not about to take a chance on the authenticity of the leaflet. A similar stunt had been pulled on them in August just before the Tigers launched at Muttur, forcing 40,000 on to the roads. They started fleeing again. Path blocked According to residents and journalists who were in Muttur over the weekend, those who took the flight as soon as the leaflet came out were the ones who could get out with relative ease. Around 1000 families had sought shelter in Kantale and Kinniya. But then the clamp down came in. Civilians found their paths blocked by the government military who said that their safety was guaranteed. Eye witnesses said that buses were stopped and those with addresses from Muttur were not allowed to proceed. Boat licences too had been taken over by authorities, leaving hundreds stranded on the roads. Forty eight hours after the leaflet made the civilians shiver in Muttur, the Tigers reacted. "Secretary General of the LTTE Peace Secretariat, S. Puleedevan, said that the LTTE was certainly not responsible for the distribution of the leaflets. He ventured to speculate on the forces behind the distribution of the leaflet and the reasons for its distribution," the Tiger Peace Secretariat said. No chances Whatever the origin of the leaflet was, civilians were not about to take any chances on denial of authorship from the Tigers and guarantees from security forces. Their concerns would have jumped a notch further when the navy and the Sea Tigers clashed off Pulmodai during the early hours of  September 25 morning. The Defence Ministry said that the navy had encountered a cluster of Tiger boats moving southwards from Mullaitivu. The government said that the navy was able to inflict major damage on the Tigers. "During a fierce sea battle which lasted for nearly five hours, the Sri Lanka Navy?s Fast Attack Craft taught the Sea Tigers a haunting lesson. "On completion of the confrontation only 14 craft were seen fleeing as two Sea Tiger craft caught fire initially and another nine sank along with the crew. The withdrawing 14 craft included badly damaged five Tiger boats on tow," the Media Centre for National Security said. One naval craft was damaged in the fighting and five sailors injured. "The navy believes that the Tigers were desperate to send troops and logistics to Vakarai/ Verugal area after facing a humiliating defeat at the hands of the security forces during the last few months especially when they lost the hold of Sampur area." Different story The Tigers however had a different story on the sea confrontation. LTTE Military Spokesperson Rasiah Ilanthirayan dismissed claims of heavy damage and that 70 Tigers may have died in the battle. TamilNet quoted him as saying that the Tiger boats were on routine patrol and that similar action would continue.  "Our squadrons will continue patrols as usual," he said. Translation of the leaflet : "We express our apologies for the inconvenience caused to all of you during our operation in Muttur last month and for the troubles you faced while you were vacating when the area was under our control. "However, you were already informed of last month?s operation. After we had left Muttur, the government forces had captured most of our homeland and are now celebrating the achievement. The Tamileelam forces are not cowards to sit around and stare while the government forces are enjoying after capturing part of our homeland. And the time has also come to show them. "This announcement is a warning that final preparations have begun to recapture the land we lost. This struggle will commence through Muttur. The government forces will use you as shields to protect themselves and cause massive damages to you and blame it on the LTTE as usual. Protect yourselves from the fighting, which would be intense. The government forces will understand that we are ready to face every obstacle and resistance and fight towards our goal that is to form Tamileelam. "We will begin our operation in a few days so that what had happened earlier would not happen again. We request the civilians in Muttur to cooperate with us in our struggle and vacate the area. We also assure that Muttur will be handed back to the Muslims after we recapture our lost homeland. ML, 2.10.2006