The Eastern Theater of Eelam War IV, the warfare started in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka on July 21, 2006, when the LTTE cut off the water supply to the rice fields in the Mavil aru area in the eastern Trincomalee district. The government military claimed the total control of the Eastern province after capturing the Thoppigala (Baron's cap) on July 11, 2007, after nearly a year of fighting. The major battles took place at Sampoor, Vakarai, Kanchikudicharu, Kokkadichloai and Thoppigala (Baron's cap). The military and civilian deaths are considerably low on both sides, and the government forces captured much military hardware from the LTTE during the conflict. The civilians managed to flee the combat zones, and this reduced civilian casualties, while swelling the number of internally displaced people (IDP). The world health organization (WHO) estimated ~200,300 IDPs, and claims that significant progress has occurred in resettling them The LTTE has vowed to attack Sri Lanka's military and economic targets across the country to retaliate the capture of the Eastern province from them. This was stated by the LTTE political-wing leader S.P. Thamilchelvan, in a statement to Associated Press on July 12, 2007, at Killinochchi in northern Sri Lanka. Beginning of the war A new crisis leading to the first large-scale fighting since signing of the ceasefire occurred when the LTTE closed the sluice gates of the Mavil Aru (Mavil Oya) reservoir on July 21 and cut the water supply to 15,000 villages in government controlled areas. After the initial negotiations by the SLMM to open the gates failed, the Air Force attacked LTTE positions on July 26, and ground troops began an operation to open the gates. government spokesman, stated that the government remained committed to the cease-fire. Likewise, the LTTE also claimed that they were committed to the ceasefire The sluice gates were eventually reopened on August 8, with conflicting reports as to who actually opened them. Initially, the SLMM claimed that they managed to persuade the LTTE to lift the waterway blockade conditionally. However a government spokesman said that "utilities can not be used as bargaining tools" by the rebels and the government forces launched fresh attacks on LTTE positions around the reservoir. These attacks prompted condemnation from SLMM Chief of Staff, who stated "(The government does) have the information that the LTTE has made this offer,"... "It is quite obvious they are not interested in