LTTE retaliates with a vengence
An officer from the battlefront said some SL Army troops are in the vicinity of the Kilinochchi town and are facing heavy resistance. He said these troops may enter the town at any moment.
Meanwhile, the following comment was made over the telephone from overseas by Dr. Rohan Gunaratne, who is a respectable researcher and author on terrorism.
He said LTTE Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran should be eliminated in order to neutralise the LTTE.
“The centre of gravity in the LTTE is Velupillai Prabhakaran. To defeat the LTTE, capturing land won’t make any sense, but developing intelligence and accurately targeting LTTE military infrastructure and LTTE leaders’ hideouts by air and sending small teams to infiltrate enemy territory and killing Tiger leaders would be extremely disadvantageous for the LTTE. Intelligence is the spearhead in battle in a guerrilla warfare campaign. If the Sri Lanka Armed Forces killed Prabhakaran and LTTE Intelligence Leader Pottu Amman, it will make things difficult for the LTTE.”
Sri Lanka Army Commander Lt. Gen Sarath Fonseka has said, “Our main intention is to kill the maximum number of LTTE area leaders and their cadres within LTTE territory. Then the land they control would come under our purview. At the moment we are battling with the LTTE in Kilinochchi and we will capture it. After the capture of Kilinochchi, the LTTE control will be limited only to Mullaitivu. We will attack Mullaitivu as well. We are after the LTTE Leader. We will eliminate him very soon.”
Adding to this comment, Sri Lanka Air Force Commander Air Marshal Roshan Goonetilake has said, “We conducted our air raids based on ground intelligence, as well as air intelligence. I can say we are receiving accurate intelligence from the ground and that intelligence is very credible. Our intelligence arm has improved tremendously in the task of eradicating terrorism in Sri Lanka.”
Taking out LTTE leaders such as ground commanders is an extremely important task in this battle. If the Sri Lankan Armed Forces killed Prabhakaran, the LTTE would be a headless body and the remaining leaders will battle for leadership, resulting in an internal struggle leading to a split in the organisation.
Therefore, the only way to neutralise the LTTE, is to destroy the LTTE leadership.
As I mentioned in a previous article, the LTTE is not a decentralised organisation. All decision making powers are vested with Prabhakaran. He has not appointed a deputy leader in the recent past.
However, in the early 1980s, he had appointed Gopalswami Mahendran alias Mahaththaya after the death of Sathasivam Krishnakumar also known as Colonel Kittu. Kittu was a well-known commander of the LTTE. He was badly wounded in both legs and lost one leg in a grenade attack carried out by a rival Tamil group. He required an artificial limb, which was fitted in Britain. In 1990, Britain ordered his deportation, prompting him to seek political asylum in Switzerland. But, when it appeared that his request was unlikely to be granted, he left in 1992 for an undisclosed European destination. Despite this, Prabhakaran appointed him as the head of the LTTE shipping arm.
After the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, the British authorities served Krishnakumar a quit notice on the grounds that he engaged in extortion of funds from Tamils living in the country. Krishnakumar moved to France and then to Switzerland, where he is said to have lived for a year before boarding the LTTE arms ship M.V. Ahat (also known as Yahata), which was interdicted by the Indian Navy in January 1993. He died in a mid-sea confrontation on January 14.
Prabhakaran had ordered his Intelligence Leader Shanmugalingam Sivashankar alias Pottu Amman to investigate and report to him as to who had spied for RAW, the Research and Analysis Wing of Indian Intelligence. After concluding his investigation, Pottu Amman had submitted his report and revealed the identity of the man behind Kittu’s death as LTTE Deputy Leader Mahaththaya. Prabharakan had then ordered his deputy leader be killed. Thereafter, he never appointed any of his senior leaders as his deputy.
Hence, the LTTE is not a decentralised organisation
Although Pottu Amman and Theepan are very close to Prabhakaran, the decision making powers are only kept in the hands of Prabhakaran.
A well-informed source said Pottu Amman gathers intelligence on VIPs and high ranking military officers and this information is conveyed to Prabhakaran. Thereafter, Pottu Amman and Prabhakaran lay out their plans. Even the military operations are directly commanded by Prabhakaran despite Theepan, Luxman and Banu being appointed as field commanders.
Also, the LTTE financial, shipping and international network is managed and the decisions pertaining to the network are taken by Prabhakaran. That is the reason for the conclusion that the LTTE is not a decentralised organisation.
Are there any ways that Prabhakaran can employ to escape from Sri Lanka? According to a senior military officer, it is quite impossible. He further said the international community had named him as an international criminal. Attempting to escape in one of his small planes will not help, because at present, the Sri Lanka Air Force is able to intercept LTTE aircraft. If an LTTE aircraft becomes airborne, with Prabhakaran on board, where is it going to land and in which country? To escape by sea is also virtually impossible, because at the moment, the SL Army’s 59th Division is dominating the land on the eastern coast up to a certain point, while Sri Lanka Navy boats are on the alert in the eastern seas.
When the SL Army is able to control the entire eastern coast, it will be the end of the LTTE; because then the LTTE sea supply route will be shut down.
LTTE attack Advance troops with CS gas in Kilinochchi SouthBattle is heated
Troops from the 57th and 58th Division are steadily progressing towards Kilinochchi town from South of Kilinochchi. Troops are also advancing from Akkarayankulam and Vannerikulam to Kilinochchi. The LTTE has launched counter attacks on the troops. Officers from the battle front said troops advancing from south of Kilinochchi were able to cross the LTTE earth bunds at certain places and supported by artillery fire and MI 24 helicopter gunships, engage Tiger cadres.
If the LTTE does not engage in counter attacks, then it will be no surprise because, at the present moment, SL troops are only four kilometres away from Kilinochchi town.
The LTTE is trying its level best to stop the troops from advancing, but the Tigers have failed and therefore they are attacking the troops with CS (2 chlorobenzalmalononitrile) gas.
LTTE cadres are reported to be filling locally made grenades with this gas and firing them from grenade launchers at the troops.
Intelligence had been received in advance of such a gas attack. The Directorate of Military Intelligence has intimated this to all field commanders and Army Headquarters has dispatched gas masks to soldiers in the front line.
On Sunday and Monday (September 28 and 29) troops wearing gas masks battled with LTTE cadres.
Unlike in past battles, advance intelligence has been extremely useful in the present battle.
CS gas is a non-lethal riot control agent. Tear gas is a chemical compound which, in humans, causes immediate tearing of the eyes, mild respiratory convulsions, an increase in blood pressure and pulse rate, as well as irritation of mucous membranes.
Tear gas is available in a number of different chemical formulations with effects ranging from mild tearing of the eyes to immediate vomiting and prostration. CS is often delivered in a fine powder via aerosol grenades. CS gas is usually used by police to disperse riots and demonstrations.
Prabhakaran has changed his military leadership in the battle front. In earlier battles, Swarnam was the commander. Prabhakaran has now appointed his Jaffna commander Theepan to command the Wanni battle and given clear instructions to stop Army offensives and launch counter-offensives or counter attacks. Theepan arrived in the Wanni with 150 cadres and instructed his cadres to construct earth bunds about 25 km long and 12 feet high. He tried to put up a similar defence line like in Muhamalai in the Jaffna peninsula. Military intelligence came to know about this set up and relayed the information to ground commanders. Air Force helicopter gunships then attacked cadres in places where Theepan couldn’t complete his defence line.
Senior military officers stationed south of Kilinochchi at Akkarayankulam and Vellankuam said up to date, the LTTE had launched 15 to 25 five counter-attacks, which SL troops have successfully repulsed. The LTTE realises very well that if it loses Kilinochchi town, there is only five km. for the SL Army to reach Paranthan junction.
From Paranthan junction, roads lead to Pooneryn, Elephant Pass, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya. If the SL Army captures this junction, the LTTE’s main supply route from Pooneryn and the Jaffna peninsula will be cut off. Will the Tigers withdraw from Paranthan before the Army captures it? Only the future holds the answer.
An intelligence official said that at the moment, 80% of the LTTE’s administrative activities have been shifted to Puthukkudiyiruppu and Vishvamadu areas in the Mullaitivu district. Civilians who lived in Kilinochchi were asked to vacate the area and settle in Mullaitivu. Compulsory recruitment of cadres is still in force and civilians are not allowed to cross over to Government controlled areas under any circumstance. All male and female civilians are forcibly recruited to the LTTE military and those civilians who cannot be trained are kept as human shields. This includes babies, pregnant women and elderly women, he said.
This is no more a secret, yet international human rights organisations and some in the international community, keep mum. If human rights organisations have any concern for civilians, they should urge the LTTE to free the civilians from its grip. The UN Sri Lanka office can mediate on this issue.
LTTE leadership aiming to unsettle Colombo and the East.
While the battle is in progress, the LTTE leadership is aiming to unsettle Colombo and the East. If Colombo and the East are unsettled, the LTTE thinking is that troops would be withdrawn from battle and stationed in the East and in Colombo. In Colombo, Tiger cadres are said to be armed with identity cards portraying themselves as Muslims, while the Tigers are also having links with the Colombo underworld. Their prime targets are said to be the Kolonnawa oil refinery, Ratmalana troop transit point, Ratmalana Airport and the Katunayake Air Force base. The Tigers are trying their level best to unsettle the South and so build up the morale of their cadres. Military intelligence has informed the respective authorities to take adequate safety measures.
In the East, in Trincomalee and Ampara areas, sleeper LTTE cadres are waking up and arming themselves with weapons and explosives they have hidden, in a bid to unsettle the areas.
However, a military official said the security forces do have enough man power for both tasks – to carry on the campaign in the Wanni and secure the rest of the country.
Meanwhile, LTTE supporters are lobbying the international community and human rights organisations. These supporters are very influential in India. Even at the moment, South Indian politicians are launching fasting campaigns to influence the Indian Central Government. What will be its response?
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