The LTTE had delivered letters to an army camp in Vaharai, between Trinco and Batticaloa, telling the commanders there (in Venu’s words) “Quit the place or we will hit you.”

The LTTE seemed to be gearing up for an offensive in the East, and we received a blow-by-blow account. In late June, there were LTTE troops massing near Tricomalee and Jaffna. The Trinco commanders believed they could take the city in under 48 hours, but had been ordered by the leadership to hold off on their attack. The LTTE had delivered letters to an army camp in Vaharai, between Trinco and Batticaloa, telling the commanders there (in Venu's words) "Quit the place or we will hit you." It looked as though the LTTE had planned ahead to an assault on Batti. Meanwhile, the media had reported that the army was waiting for a new weapons system to arrive in Jaffna. We speculated that the LTTE, rather than attacking before the army improved its defenses, was actually waiting for the new weapons to arrive so they could steal them—a tactic they had used successfully in the past.