The past seven days would have easily witnessed the bloodiest clashes in the north, with Tigers repeatedly resorting to gas attacks and the desperate attempts in Tamil Nadu, by LTTE proxies, to get India to intervene on their behalf, in the guise of saving civilians in Wanni. It is a clear sign that, Prabhakaran’s men are receiving body blows.
There were no such protests in Tamil Nadu when the East was being cleared or thereafter, when the entire Mannar district was cleared. The question being asked is can India intervene on behalf of an organization declared by the civilised world as a terrorist outfit and against a legally elected government, which is battling this most ruthless terrorist outfit to restore the country’s sovereignty, and free a section of its people from the tyranny of the LTTE.
It is ironical, that our own opposition, which made catcalls when the East was liberated, challenging the government instead, to go after the Tiger heartland in Wanni, does not have the decency to, at least now, rally behind the forces wholeheartedly. We only hear isolated voices from the opposition ranks backing our forces.
Now that the war has reached a decisive stage, the Defence establishment has taken a wise decision to temporarily suspend the reporting of all casualty figures. The LTTE stopped giving its casualty tolls after every encounter sometime ago. Even during the recent Gulf wars, the news sent out by the coalition forces was to a great extent, highly filtered, and many a western journalist became hurrah boys for the invading forces, after being embedded with the advancing units.
Road to Kilinochchi muddy and bloody
The heaviest fighting took place last Saturday, with the 57 Division advancing to take Kilinochchi Town, deciding to take what was left of the enemy ditch-cum-bund impressive defence structure in its sector. It had been constructed from Nachchikudah to Akkarayankulam, stretching for some 24 kms. These defences have been a hindrance to outflank Killinochchi town from the West.
In this assault that began at 6:30 am, the 8th Sri Lanka Light Infantry (SLLI) commanded by Lt. Col. Ipshitha Dissanayake from the north of Kokavil and the 4th Sinha Regiment commanded by Lt. Col. Prabhashana Welikala were the worst hit. While all the participating units had to weather the merciless downpours, as much as Tiger mortar and artillery fire, but in the case of these two units, they were at the receiving end of terrorist gas attacks. Twenty nine soldiers of the 8th SLLI were overcome by CS gas, while most of them recovered in the battlefield itself, 10 had to be hospitalised for further treatment. Seventeen men from Charlie Company of the 4th Sinha along with some men of the 17th Gajaba, fighting alongside them, were overwhelmed by CS gas.
The other units involved in this assault on the main northern Tiger defence line were 57-1 Brigade’s 9th Gajaba under Lt. Col. Chandana Somaweera to the west of Akkarayankulam tank; Lt. Col. Jayampathy Bandara led 12th Sinha to the west of 9th Gajaba. Together, these two units were assigned to cover some six kms to take 18 and 16 enemy bunkers. The 6th Gemunu Watch commanded by Lt. Col. Kamal Pinnawala was assigned 700 metre stretch west of 12th Sinha. On the East of Akkarayankulam tank was the 57-2 Brigade. The 3rd Gajaba under Maj. Sanjaya Fernando was assigned to assault the tank bund.
The 9th Gajaba’s Alpha Company was led by Lt. Kolitha Kulasekara, Bravo Company by Capt. Mahesh Gunasinghe, and Delta Company by Capt. Rukman Perera. It was Delta Company’s Cpl. Jayasekera and his small team that first crossed the Tiger defences from the Akkarayankulam tank side
Small is effective
It was mostly eight-man groups that launched the assault to take what was left of the Tiger defence structure, using improvised ladders and other means. Though after about three hours of heavy fighting, about six kilometers of the line was captured by the forces, the Tigers mounted at least six counter assaults from noon onwards from Akkarayankulam west and east, backed by CS gas attacks and mortar and artillery fire. It was quite clear that, in these areas, Tigers had, in advance, marked every tree, rock and any identifiable geographical location, so as to rain in gas, artillery and mortar fire accurately, no sooner troops moved into those areas.
Observers said it might be wise for the security forces to bypass Kilinochchi for a while, as they earlier did at Nachchikudah and, in the meantime, go after Tiger big guns hidden away in the jungles, using whatever means. The use of the Air Force on such missions is now badly hampered due to adverse weather conditions now prevailing and expected to continue till end of December.
Many of these crucial decisions are expected to be taken this week, once Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka returns after a private visit to the US. Even during his absence, he had been in constant contact with his top commanders.
By last Sunday, the 58 Division commanded by Brig. Shavendra Silva, had captured completely some 10 kms of the Tiger ditch-cum-bund defence line between Vannerikulam and Akkarayan, and had advanced some six kilometers beyond this line. It is now less than 10 kms from its main target, the main staging area of the Tigers on the Western Coast, Pooneryn, from where it even targets security forces Northern Headquarters at Palali, with its long range artillery.
Downpour hampers air strikes
With the weather playing havoc, it is small eight-man teams that are now waging operations for both Divisions. The country is forever indebted to these fighting men, now engaged in operations in various northern fronts. Most people in the rest of the country don’t realise that these fighting men are without proper meals, not even a hot cup of tea and mostly surviving on field rations. They are soaked from head to toe; with no place even to dry their mud and water soaked boots and clothes, let alone catch a wink of sleep. To keep the water out, each soldier has only a raincoat in the shape of a poncho.
There were reports yesterday that the Army was dispatching washing machines and dryers, close to the front, at least to ensure some dry uniforms. The rains, this week in the region, were described by one senior officer as “unusually very heavy.”
With the weather restricting the use of aircraft, including UAVs, the Tigers are said to be building yet another ditch-cum-bund defence line in the Murukandy region.
With much of the ditch-cum-bund defence line now overrun, by Friday, some units of the 57 Division were only one kilometer from the southern periphery of Kilinochchi Town.
It now appears that four suicide attack craft had come to attack the two vessels Nimalawa and Mercs Ruhuna ferrying supplies to Jaffna peninsula. Initial reports from the Navy said that, its sentries stationed aboard the two vessels engaged the suicide craft with machine-gun fire and destroyed two of them, while a third was captured after shooting dead the terrorist manning it. The one that exploded near Nimalawa, causing some damage to it, is believed to be the fourth. Though the Tiger website Tamilnet immediately claimed the vessel had been sunk, it had been miraculously saved from a watery grave.
It is also now suspected that, these suicide craft had come from India to attack the two vessels berthed for the night off the Milladi pier, situated between KKS and Point Pedro. The suicide craft had not been detected earlier, as they wouldn’t have registered on any radar, due to being virtually half submerged and hardly visible on the surface.
This week also saw another very symbolic victory, when 22-3 Brigade under Col. Rasika Fernando recaptured Gajabapura in the Weli Oya belt. Gajabapura fell into Tiger hands during the Wanni debacle of 1999.
On Friday, authorities were able to make a major breakthrough into a terror cell operated by the Tigers in the upcountry estate region. A special police team from Colombo arrested 13 suspects from three estates in Uda Pussellawa and Nuwara Eliya in this connection. The police made the breakthrough following information elicited from two Tiger activists arrested from a textile shop at Pettah and a warehouse at Bloemendhal Road. The cell had been assigned the tasks of mounting attacks on Diyatalawa security forces training camps, assassination of VIPs, and smuggling of weapons to upcountry avoiding checkpoints and finding suitable places to store them. One of the cell members had done a reconnaissance to carry out a suicide attack during a passing out ceremony at the Diyatalawa Military Academy, when parents and close relatives of the trainees are present. Three Wanni Tigers, who had crept into the vicinity, in the night, through barbed wire fences, had even compiled a report on the proposed attack. Most of the suspects are said to be fluent in Sinhala.
A Tiger from the north, serving as an English teacher attached to the Gampahawatte Estate school in Udapussellawa too, has been arrested. The English teacher had, on several occasions, attempted to make friends with Army officers.
The LTTE had even instructed this cell to look for houses to be rented out to facilitate future attacks in the estate sector.
Source
There were no such protests in Tamil Nadu when the East was being cleared or thereafter, when the entire Mannar district was cleared. The question being asked is can India intervene on behalf of an organization declared by the civilised world as a terrorist outfit and against a legally elected government, which is battling this most ruthless terrorist outfit to restore the country’s sovereignty, and free a section of its people from the tyranny of the LTTE.It is ironical, that our own opposition, which made catcalls when the East was liberated, challenging the government instead, to go after the Tiger heartland in Wanni, does not have the decency to, at least now, rally behind the forces wholeheartedly. We only hear isolated voices from the opposition ranks backing our forces.
Now that the war has reached a decisive stage, the Defence establishment has taken a wise decision to temporarily suspend the reporting of all casualty figures. The LTTE stopped giving its casualty tolls after every encounter sometime ago. Even during the recent Gulf wars, the news sent out by the coalition forces was to a great extent, highly filtered, and many a western journalist became hurrah boys for the invading forces, after being embedded with the advancing units.
Road to Kilinochchi muddy and bloody
The heaviest fighting took place last Saturday, with the 57 Division advancing to take Kilinochchi Town, deciding to take what was left of the enemy ditch-cum-bund impressive defence structure in its sector. It had been constructed from Nachchikudah to Akkarayankulam, stretching for some 24 kms. These defences have been a hindrance to outflank Killinochchi town from the West.
In this assault that began at 6:30 am, the 8th Sri Lanka Light Infantry (SLLI) commanded by Lt. Col. Ipshitha Dissanayake from the north of Kokavil and the 4th Sinha Regiment commanded by Lt. Col. Prabhashana Welikala were the worst hit. While all the participating units had to weather the merciless downpours, as much as Tiger mortar and artillery fire, but in the case of these two units, they were at the receiving end of terrorist gas attacks. Twenty nine soldiers of the 8th SLLI were overcome by CS gas, while most of them recovered in the battlefield itself, 10 had to be hospitalised for further treatment. Seventeen men from Charlie Company of the 4th Sinha along with some men of the 17th Gajaba, fighting alongside them, were overwhelmed by CS gas.
The other units involved in this assault on the main northern Tiger defence line were 57-1 Brigade’s 9th Gajaba under Lt. Col. Chandana Somaweera to the west of Akkarayankulam tank; Lt. Col. Jayampathy Bandara led 12th Sinha to the west of 9th Gajaba. Together, these two units were assigned to cover some six kms to take 18 and 16 enemy bunkers. The 6th Gemunu Watch commanded by Lt. Col. Kamal Pinnawala was assigned 700 metre stretch west of 12th Sinha. On the East of Akkarayankulam tank was the 57-2 Brigade. The 3rd Gajaba under Maj. Sanjaya Fernando was assigned to assault the tank bund.
The 9th Gajaba’s Alpha Company was led by Lt. Kolitha Kulasekara, Bravo Company by Capt. Mahesh Gunasinghe, and Delta Company by Capt. Rukman Perera. It was Delta Company’s Cpl. Jayasekera and his small team that first crossed the Tiger defences from the Akkarayankulam tank side
Small is effective
It was mostly eight-man groups that launched the assault to take what was left of the Tiger defence structure, using improvised ladders and other means. Though after about three hours of heavy fighting, about six kilometers of the line was captured by the forces, the Tigers mounted at least six counter assaults from noon onwards from Akkarayankulam west and east, backed by CS gas attacks and mortar and artillery fire. It was quite clear that, in these areas, Tigers had, in advance, marked every tree, rock and any identifiable geographical location, so as to rain in gas, artillery and mortar fire accurately, no sooner troops moved into those areas.
Observers said it might be wise for the security forces to bypass Kilinochchi for a while, as they earlier did at Nachchikudah and, in the meantime, go after Tiger big guns hidden away in the jungles, using whatever means. The use of the Air Force on such missions is now badly hampered due to adverse weather conditions now prevailing and expected to continue till end of December.
Many of these crucial decisions are expected to be taken this week, once Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka returns after a private visit to the US. Even during his absence, he had been in constant contact with his top commanders.
By last Sunday, the 58 Division commanded by Brig. Shavendra Silva, had captured completely some 10 kms of the Tiger ditch-cum-bund defence line between Vannerikulam and Akkarayan, and had advanced some six kilometers beyond this line. It is now less than 10 kms from its main target, the main staging area of the Tigers on the Western Coast, Pooneryn, from where it even targets security forces Northern Headquarters at Palali, with its long range artillery.
Downpour hampers air strikes
With the weather playing havoc, it is small eight-man teams that are now waging operations for both Divisions. The country is forever indebted to these fighting men, now engaged in operations in various northern fronts. Most people in the rest of the country don’t realise that these fighting men are without proper meals, not even a hot cup of tea and mostly surviving on field rations. They are soaked from head to toe; with no place even to dry their mud and water soaked boots and clothes, let alone catch a wink of sleep. To keep the water out, each soldier has only a raincoat in the shape of a poncho.
There were reports yesterday that the Army was dispatching washing machines and dryers, close to the front, at least to ensure some dry uniforms. The rains, this week in the region, were described by one senior officer as “unusually very heavy.”
With the weather restricting the use of aircraft, including UAVs, the Tigers are said to be building yet another ditch-cum-bund defence line in the Murukandy region.
With much of the ditch-cum-bund defence line now overrun, by Friday, some units of the 57 Division were only one kilometer from the southern periphery of Kilinochchi Town.
It now appears that four suicide attack craft had come to attack the two vessels Nimalawa and Mercs Ruhuna ferrying supplies to Jaffna peninsula. Initial reports from the Navy said that, its sentries stationed aboard the two vessels engaged the suicide craft with machine-gun fire and destroyed two of them, while a third was captured after shooting dead the terrorist manning it. The one that exploded near Nimalawa, causing some damage to it, is believed to be the fourth. Though the Tiger website Tamilnet immediately claimed the vessel had been sunk, it had been miraculously saved from a watery grave.
It is also now suspected that, these suicide craft had come from India to attack the two vessels berthed for the night off the Milladi pier, situated between KKS and Point Pedro. The suicide craft had not been detected earlier, as they wouldn’t have registered on any radar, due to being virtually half submerged and hardly visible on the surface.
This week also saw another very symbolic victory, when 22-3 Brigade under Col. Rasika Fernando recaptured Gajabapura in the Weli Oya belt. Gajabapura fell into Tiger hands during the Wanni debacle of 1999.
On Friday, authorities were able to make a major breakthrough into a terror cell operated by the Tigers in the upcountry estate region. A special police team from Colombo arrested 13 suspects from three estates in Uda Pussellawa and Nuwara Eliya in this connection. The police made the breakthrough following information elicited from two Tiger activists arrested from a textile shop at Pettah and a warehouse at Bloemendhal Road. The cell had been assigned the tasks of mounting attacks on Diyatalawa security forces training camps, assassination of VIPs, and smuggling of weapons to upcountry avoiding checkpoints and finding suitable places to store them. One of the cell members had done a reconnaissance to carry out a suicide attack during a passing out ceremony at the Diyatalawa Military Academy, when parents and close relatives of the trainees are present. Three Wanni Tigers, who had crept into the vicinity, in the night, through barbed wire fences, had even compiled a report on the proposed attack. Most of the suspects are said to be fluent in Sinhala.
A Tiger from the north, serving as an English teacher attached to the Gampahawatte Estate school in Udapussellawa too, has been arrested. The English teacher had, on several occasions, attempted to make friends with Army officers.
The LTTE had even instructed this cell to look for houses to be rented out to facilitate future attacks in the estate sector.
Source
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