Twenty five years have passed since the first organized guerrilla attack against the Sri Lanka Armed forces by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). This attack was in Thirunaweli in Jaffna. Thirteen army personnel led by Second Lieutenant Vass Gunawardane of the 1st Infantry Regiment were killed in an ambush. This incident sparked anti-Tamil riots in other areas in the country which led to approximately 600 deaths islandwide.
Since then the LTTE has become a conventional force with sea and ground capability. It became a formidable force and succeeded at different periods within the twenty five years of the conflict to capture several military complexes. At present when the country remembers the 25th anniversary of that first attack, the Tamil Tigers have once again resorted to their earlier tactics of launching guerrilla attacks, to counter the present military onslaught.
According to Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, since the fighting broke out between the security forces and the LTTE two years ago, from the capture of Mavil Aru to date, some 9000 LTTE cadres have been killed in confrontations. This number is said to account for at least two thirds of the entire LTTE force.
Since the commencement of the Eelam war IV, the Sri Lanka Army’s main purpose was to cut off the supply lines of the LTTE and at the same time eliminate as many cadres as possible.
Capturing of land area is not the aim of the military during the Eelam war IV according to the Army Chief. But in their campaigns the forces were able to gain control of large areas which were previously under LTTE control. This military has taken control of 41 kilomtres since the fighting commenced in locations south of Mannar.
After nearly one year, the military now maintains some 75 kilometres long defence line connecting the north western coast to the A-9 main road across the Wanni region, with three divisions.
It is now clear that the military’s main purpose is to gain control of the areas on the western side of the A-9 road and thereby confine the LTTE to very small areas. On July 20, troops of the 58 Division and the Commando regiment gained full control of the Illuppaikadavai area after a prolonged battle with LTTE cadres in the region.
Illuppaikadavai housed a large LTTE base which was used for multiple tasks by the Tigers including land and sea operations. Regular infantry units from the 58 Division as well as small groups of two army commando units had surrounded the area by July 19 and moved ahead of their positions early morning next day. The LTTE retreated further north after suffering casualties at the hands of advancing troops. Illuppaikadavai is located around 10 kilometres north of Vidattaltivu, where the Tigers lost control of a major sea tiger base four days earlier.
After capturing the ‘Rice Bowl’ area north of Mannar, the troops took sometime to capture the Vidattaltivu area because of the heavy buildup around one of the Tigers’ main sea bases.
Mobilizing various tactical initiatives the troops succeeded in gaining full control of this key Sea Tiger base. Three days later the Commandos and the 58 Division soldiers were able to reach Illuppakadavai located some ten kilomtres north of Vidattaltivu. Ground military officials confirmed that they were able to speedup their advance because LTTE were unable to make any major defence lines or lay mines. The troops thereafter surrounded the Illuppakadavai sea base.
With the arrival of the troops, the Tigers fled the area using sea routes after setting fire to some boats and equipment at the camp. The highly fortified camp was another sea Tiger base, where the LTTE cadres in the area had celebrated its Heroes’ Day in a grand manner a few weeks ago. Troops had found some of the decorations used for the ceremony still in place.
The combined attack launched by the Sri Lanka Navy and the Sri Lanka Air Force targeted the withdrawing LTTE cadres, destroying six LTTE boats and severely damaging another two in a sea confrontation that lasted for over two hours in the seas off Nachchikuda, located on the North-western coast.
Naval craft on patrol had engaged the enemy craft upon observing a movement of 6-8 LTTE boats south of Nachchikuda in the evening. Air Force support was subsequently called for and the LTTE boat movement was completely immobilized in the combined naval and air attack that ensued. The monitoring of enemy communications had confirmed that more than 15 LTTE cadres were killed in the confrontation.
Intelligence reports had confirmed that the Sea Tigers had moved its vessels and other assets to Pallikuda south of Pooneryn. Pallikuda is a coastal village situated North of the Gulf of Mannar.
LTTE cadres fleeing further north after the fall of their base at Illuppaikadavai were attacked on the following day evening by a group of army commandos in Murunkalayadippudi, located some three kilomtres north of Illuppaikadavai, killing some 13 LTTE cadres.
Ground sources had confirmed that the military uncovered an underground bunker complex in the LTTE base at Illuppaikadavai, which could accommodate some 100-150 LTTE cadres.
Earlier the troops uncovered an underwater jetty 150 metres long that can be used to hide some 100 small sea tiger boats.
The troops thereafter advanced further northwards to capture Nachchikuda, the last remaining major LTTE sea base in the North western coast. Once the military succeed in capturing Nachchikuda, the LTTE would lose all supply routes with India by sea.
Presently the entire western coastal belt is virtually surrounded by the Sri Lanka Navy to minimize the threat by the Tigers to the Jaffna islands.
Reports also said that the LTTE was planning to launch a massive attack on the Jaffna islands in order to boost their cadres morale, but the military believe they would not be able to do so since they had lost control of the entire coastal belt.
Troops of the 57 Division are poised to launch a major assault on Tunukkai and Mallavi, where the LTTE has their main bases including the Command Centres west of the A-9 road. Troops of 572 Brigade led by Lt. Col. Senerath Bandara has almost reached the Tunukkai town and has already gained control of Vivingama, the village adjoining Thunukkai, a few days ago.
A two kilometre long strong defence line had been set up by the Tigers just south of Tunukkai, over paddy fields, in order to prevent the military advance.
In the meantime the troops based in and around Mallawi town are awaiting orders to capture the town, where the LTTE has one of its Operation Headquarters. During the last few days the troops were able to cause heavy damages to the LTTE launching a number of small attacks against the Tigers located in these areas.
Once the troops capture Tunukkai and Mallavi, they would be able to link with Mankulam on the A-9 road and capture Mankulam as well. When this happens the entire south of Mankulam including the A-9 road up to Omnathai would come under the military control.
Battered LTTE holds out the olive branch
As the Sri Lanka Armed Forces are almost at the door of the LTTE stronghold Killinochchi, the LTTE, as a last resort to stop the troops’ unstoppable march towards their controlled areas and in a move to win the hearts of the neighbouring giant India, unilaterally declared yet another Ceasefire to be effective for the summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Corporation (SAARC) from July 26 to August 4.
Issuing an official press release the LTTE on Monday midnight described the announcement “a sign of goodwill to develop friendship with the countries of the world and our neighbouring countries in our region.
We are always keen to develop friendship with the countries of the world and our neighbouring countries in our region. We are sincere in our efforts to create the external conditions in order to build these friendships.”
In the press release, only issued to the media and not to the Sri Lanka government, which should be the partner of the Ceasefire, the Tigers nowhere mentioned anything about ‘peace’.
The press release appeared to be a cheap ploy, to get the support of the SAARC countries, especially India. The LTTE knows that India could influence Sri Lanka, but at this juncture, India is maintaining a hands-off policy concerning the Lankan conflict and the armed action of the Sri Lankan Government.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh narrowly escaped losing a no faith motion two days ago. This time around India’s intervention in the Sri Lankan conflict is not certain though it appears to have a hidden influence on most of the political decisions of the President Mahinda Rajapaksa Government.
In the present situation the Tigers badly need India’s support in order to survive and have stated that they have no intention of attacking India or its delegates in Sri Lanka at any point, at a time when India will send its delegates for the SAARC summit.
India has enough experiences on Tiger declarations in the past with the assassination of Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Anyway, the Tigers will be forced to cease any attacks in the south during the SAARC summit and if some incident does occur it would be considered as a direct threat to the regional meeting.
The recent attack in the east by suspected LTTE small arms on a VVIP Helicopter that was a part of the Presidential convoy, led India to re-consider their delegates’ security during the summit.
However, the Tigers concluded their recent press release warning that they would take defensive action if the armed forces continue their attacks on them. “At the same time if the occupying Sinhala forces, disrespecting our goodwill gesture of our people and our nation, carry out any offensives, our movement will be forced to take defensive actions.”
In response to the LTTE’s latest gimmick the government snubbed the offer and said it is not ready to pump ‘Oxygen’ to the dying Tigers and demoralize the armed forces personnel, who were fighting to wipeout the Tigers from the land.
DM
Since then the LTTE has become a conventional force with sea and ground capability. It became a formidable force and succeeded at different periods within the twenty five years of the conflict to capture several military complexes. At present when the country remembers the 25th anniversary of that first attack, the Tamil Tigers have once again resorted to their earlier tactics of launching guerrilla attacks, to counter the present military onslaught.
According to Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, since the fighting broke out between the security forces and the LTTE two years ago, from the capture of Mavil Aru to date, some 9000 LTTE cadres have been killed in confrontations. This number is said to account for at least two thirds of the entire LTTE force.
Since the commencement of the Eelam war IV, the Sri Lanka Army’s main purpose was to cut off the supply lines of the LTTE and at the same time eliminate as many cadres as possible.
Capturing of land area is not the aim of the military during the Eelam war IV according to the Army Chief. But in their campaigns the forces were able to gain control of large areas which were previously under LTTE control. This military has taken control of 41 kilomtres since the fighting commenced in locations south of Mannar.
After nearly one year, the military now maintains some 75 kilometres long defence line connecting the north western coast to the A-9 main road across the Wanni region, with three divisions.
It is now clear that the military’s main purpose is to gain control of the areas on the western side of the A-9 road and thereby confine the LTTE to very small areas. On July 20, troops of the 58 Division and the Commando regiment gained full control of the Illuppaikadavai area after a prolonged battle with LTTE cadres in the region.
Illuppaikadavai housed a large LTTE base which was used for multiple tasks by the Tigers including land and sea operations. Regular infantry units from the 58 Division as well as small groups of two army commando units had surrounded the area by July 19 and moved ahead of their positions early morning next day. The LTTE retreated further north after suffering casualties at the hands of advancing troops. Illuppaikadavai is located around 10 kilometres north of Vidattaltivu, where the Tigers lost control of a major sea tiger base four days earlier.
After capturing the ‘Rice Bowl’ area north of Mannar, the troops took sometime to capture the Vidattaltivu area because of the heavy buildup around one of the Tigers’ main sea bases.
Mobilizing various tactical initiatives the troops succeeded in gaining full control of this key Sea Tiger base. Three days later the Commandos and the 58 Division soldiers were able to reach Illuppakadavai located some ten kilomtres north of Vidattaltivu. Ground military officials confirmed that they were able to speedup their advance because LTTE were unable to make any major defence lines or lay mines. The troops thereafter surrounded the Illuppakadavai sea base.
With the arrival of the troops, the Tigers fled the area using sea routes after setting fire to some boats and equipment at the camp. The highly fortified camp was another sea Tiger base, where the LTTE cadres in the area had celebrated its Heroes’ Day in a grand manner a few weeks ago. Troops had found some of the decorations used for the ceremony still in place.
The combined attack launched by the Sri Lanka Navy and the Sri Lanka Air Force targeted the withdrawing LTTE cadres, destroying six LTTE boats and severely damaging another two in a sea confrontation that lasted for over two hours in the seas off Nachchikuda, located on the North-western coast.
Naval craft on patrol had engaged the enemy craft upon observing a movement of 6-8 LTTE boats south of Nachchikuda in the evening. Air Force support was subsequently called for and the LTTE boat movement was completely immobilized in the combined naval and air attack that ensued. The monitoring of enemy communications had confirmed that more than 15 LTTE cadres were killed in the confrontation.
Intelligence reports had confirmed that the Sea Tigers had moved its vessels and other assets to Pallikuda south of Pooneryn. Pallikuda is a coastal village situated North of the Gulf of Mannar.
LTTE cadres fleeing further north after the fall of their base at Illuppaikadavai were attacked on the following day evening by a group of army commandos in Murunkalayadippudi, located some three kilomtres north of Illuppaikadavai, killing some 13 LTTE cadres.
Ground sources had confirmed that the military uncovered an underground bunker complex in the LTTE base at Illuppaikadavai, which could accommodate some 100-150 LTTE cadres.
Earlier the troops uncovered an underwater jetty 150 metres long that can be used to hide some 100 small sea tiger boats.
The troops thereafter advanced further northwards to capture Nachchikuda, the last remaining major LTTE sea base in the North western coast. Once the military succeed in capturing Nachchikuda, the LTTE would lose all supply routes with India by sea.
Presently the entire western coastal belt is virtually surrounded by the Sri Lanka Navy to minimize the threat by the Tigers to the Jaffna islands.
Reports also said that the LTTE was planning to launch a massive attack on the Jaffna islands in order to boost their cadres morale, but the military believe they would not be able to do so since they had lost control of the entire coastal belt.
Troops of the 57 Division are poised to launch a major assault on Tunukkai and Mallavi, where the LTTE has their main bases including the Command Centres west of the A-9 road. Troops of 572 Brigade led by Lt. Col. Senerath Bandara has almost reached the Tunukkai town and has already gained control of Vivingama, the village adjoining Thunukkai, a few days ago.
A two kilometre long strong defence line had been set up by the Tigers just south of Tunukkai, over paddy fields, in order to prevent the military advance.
In the meantime the troops based in and around Mallawi town are awaiting orders to capture the town, where the LTTE has one of its Operation Headquarters. During the last few days the troops were able to cause heavy damages to the LTTE launching a number of small attacks against the Tigers located in these areas.
Once the troops capture Tunukkai and Mallavi, they would be able to link with Mankulam on the A-9 road and capture Mankulam as well. When this happens the entire south of Mankulam including the A-9 road up to Omnathai would come under the military control.
Battered LTTE holds out the olive branch
As the Sri Lanka Armed Forces are almost at the door of the LTTE stronghold Killinochchi, the LTTE, as a last resort to stop the troops’ unstoppable march towards their controlled areas and in a move to win the hearts of the neighbouring giant India, unilaterally declared yet another Ceasefire to be effective for the summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Corporation (SAARC) from July 26 to August 4.
Issuing an official press release the LTTE on Monday midnight described the announcement “a sign of goodwill to develop friendship with the countries of the world and our neighbouring countries in our region.
We are always keen to develop friendship with the countries of the world and our neighbouring countries in our region. We are sincere in our efforts to create the external conditions in order to build these friendships.”
In the press release, only issued to the media and not to the Sri Lanka government, which should be the partner of the Ceasefire, the Tigers nowhere mentioned anything about ‘peace’.
The press release appeared to be a cheap ploy, to get the support of the SAARC countries, especially India. The LTTE knows that India could influence Sri Lanka, but at this juncture, India is maintaining a hands-off policy concerning the Lankan conflict and the armed action of the Sri Lankan Government.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh narrowly escaped losing a no faith motion two days ago. This time around India’s intervention in the Sri Lankan conflict is not certain though it appears to have a hidden influence on most of the political decisions of the President Mahinda Rajapaksa Government.
In the present situation the Tigers badly need India’s support in order to survive and have stated that they have no intention of attacking India or its delegates in Sri Lanka at any point, at a time when India will send its delegates for the SAARC summit.
India has enough experiences on Tiger declarations in the past with the assassination of Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Anyway, the Tigers will be forced to cease any attacks in the south during the SAARC summit and if some incident does occur it would be considered as a direct threat to the regional meeting.
The recent attack in the east by suspected LTTE small arms on a VVIP Helicopter that was a part of the Presidential convoy, led India to re-consider their delegates’ security during the summit.
However, the Tigers concluded their recent press release warning that they would take defensive action if the armed forces continue their attacks on them. “At the same time if the occupying Sinhala forces, disrespecting our goodwill gesture of our people and our nation, carry out any offensives, our movement will be forced to take defensive actions.”
In response to the LTTE’s latest gimmick the government snubbed the offer and said it is not ready to pump ‘Oxygen’ to the dying Tigers and demoralize the armed forces personnel, who were fighting to wipeout the Tigers from the land.
DM
