water. They are interested in something else." As the battle warmed up, the LTTE claimed that they opened the sluice gates "on humanitarian grounds" although this was disputed by military correspondents, who stated that the water began flowing immediately after the security forces carried out a precise bombing of the Mavil Oya anicut. Eventually, following heavy fighting with the rebels, government troops gained full control of the Mavil Oya reservoir on August 15. Battle of Muttur and Sampur The Sri Lankan military gained control the Sampur town of eastern Trincomalee district on September 4, 2006, where the area used by LTTE as an artillery launching pad to attack Trincomalee port. The SLA military offensive began in August 2006 and the area was under LTTE control for years. President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced capturing of Sampur as he addressed the 55th annual conference of the ruling SLFP. The battle of Sampoor, close to Muttur, lasted nearly a month. The SLA gained control of the area on September 4, 2006, after heavy fighting. Battle of Vakarai The Sri Lankan military announced that the capture of Vakarai, a coastal town of eastern Batticaloa district on January 19, 2007, the military has accused the LTTE of using civilians in the Vakarai hospital as a human shield and also using the hospital premises as an artillery launching pad. The SLA's battle to take Vakarai (Vaakare) lasted nearly 3 months from October 30, 2006, to January 15, 2007. Vakarai (Vaakare) is a coastal city in the Batticaloa (Madakalapuva) district where the LTTE had clamped their own civil administration and police for some time. As per Sri Lankan military sources, the military operation launched to gain the area of Vakarai from LTTE was conducted in two phases. The first phase was to facilitate the movement of civilians into the area under the Sri Lankan army (SLA). The Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) of the SLA infiltrated the area under the LTTE, and launched surprise attacks on them. This tactic caused the LTTE to engage with the SLA instead of holding the civilians (hostages) from fleeing into the SLA control zone. The phase-II started on December 4, 2006, where the SLA troops advanced in three fronts from Trikonamadu(Thrikonamaduva), Kirimichchiya (Kirimaetiyaava), Kadjuwatte and cleared off 15 km into the Trikonamadu jungle. During this action, the LTTE targets at Kaddamuravikulam, Karuvappanchenai and Madurankernikulam were destroyed. The second advance of SLA started on