by Shamindra Ferdinando
=SLAF mounts casualty evacuation ops inside enemy territory
The LTTE is in the process of expanding a second runway capable of accommodating heavy aircraft in Mullaitivu as government troops backed by air, artillery and armour battle through fortified enemy defences on the western and eastern flanks.
The military has irrefutable evidence that the LTTE is engaged in the construction of the air strip in spite of the unprecedented army build-up on the multiple Vanni fronts where ground forces have inflicted massive losses on the Tigers.
Although fighter aircraft had targeted the runway recently, the LTTE seemed to be going ahead with the construction determinedly, a highly placed military official said. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, he asserted that the LTTE would have made use of every available heavy earth moving machine for the construction work.
Israeli-built Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), acquired by Sri Lanka, have enabled the SLAF to keep LTTE activity under observation.
The military said the second runway could accommodate large aircraft. It was definitely not needed to launch two or three small aircraft operated by the LTTE, the military said.
There have been several SLAF sorties directed at the first runway located at Iranamadu since the strike launched on May 11, 2006. The government ordered the strike immediately after the LTTE attacked an SLN convoy on its way from Trincomalee to Kankesanturai. Although the SLN lost a Fast Attack Craft, it thwarted the LTTE’s attempt to blast a passenger vessel carrying over 700 off-duty personnel.
The military said the second runaway seemed both longer and wider than the Iranamadu strip.
Both runways are located east of the A9 road. With the army expanding offensive action, particularly in the western part of the Vanni region, the Sea Tigers have been forced to shift its assets onto the Mullaitivu theatre. An authoritative navy official said Sea Tigers had moved the bulk of their assets, including a range of craft overland across the Vanni mainland to Mullaitivu as they retreated on the western flank. Three fighting formations, namely the Task Force I, 57 Division and Task Force II (deployed west of the A9) are on the offensive on the western flack while the 59 Division is advancing on the eastern flank. The Task Force I has already secured a 52 km stretch of the 82 km Mannar-Pooneryn coastal road, thereby bringing enemy targets deep inside LTTE territory, within the army’s strike range.
The military said the navy and the SLAF would focus on the Sea Tiger assets deployed in the Mullaitivu theatre . On August 6, SLAF jets launched from the Katunayake air base destroyed four large LTTE craft, which one military official confidently asserted was about 50 feet long. But another said they were shorter than the 50 but definitely bigger than the medium size (23-foot-long) craft. The military said one of the four had been destroyed in the water and the rest after the LTTE moved them to safety. A second air strike had hit the camouflaged boats after the SLAF accurately located the hideout.
With the LTTE on the retreat across the Vanni region, the army has stepped up operations deep inside LTTE territory. Small groups of men conducting clandestine operations had restricted the movement of senior LTTE cadres.
The SLAF has been called in to mount emergency evacuation of personnel of deep penetration units on a number of occasions. The SLAF had met the challenging task by utilising available assets, with the last emergency evacuation carried out late last month. Enhanced coordination among the three services over the past two years had facilitated the longest military campaign, the military said.
Comments