Tiger FDLs under attack

Mannar battlefront
Army and the LTTE are eyeing each other in an open area in Mannar where there are rice paddies and the tank north of Mannar surrounding Adampan. The Army can see the Tigers and vice versa. A very tense situation prevails.

Yesterday morning, around 4.30 am, troops, in small teams, backed by artillery fire, advanced to east Palakkuli and captured the LTTE’s forward defense line (FDL). Troops were from 12 Gemunu Watch of 583 Brigade under Brig. Suraj Bansajaya.

At 6.30 am 10 Gajaba Regiment troops from 581 Brigade, led by Col. Sujeewa, advanced further and captured cross loading point in Uliankulam. Interrupted LTTE communications revealed that 10 LTTEers died and five were wounded. The Army recovered three bodies and four weapons. Meanwhile, one soldier died while two were wounded.

During the time of writing this article on Tuesday, the battle was still in progress.

Army operating from “no man’s land” in Jaffna
In Jaffna, Kilali, Muhamalai and Nagar Kovil, Army demolished the LTTE’s FDL and attacking the LTTE’s second defence line from no man’s land.

There is about a 15km stretch from the Army’s FDLs to Elephant Pass, towards which troops in small teams crawl and accurately direct artillery and mechanised brigades to LTTE’s second defence line targets.

Mechanised Brigade in action in Jaffna front line
Mechanised Brigade, formed in 2006, was the brainchild of Army Chief Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka. The main objective of establishing the Mechanised Brigade is to minimise troop casualties.

Mechanised Brigade’s Colonel of Regiment is Vavuniya Security Forces Commander Maj Gen Jagath Jayasuriya

According to LTTE evaluations, the Mechanised Brigade is an extreme threat to it.

As a result, in 2007, the LTTE attacked artillery positions on two occasions. First, it attacked Mechanised Brigade Headquarters and wounded the Brigade Commander. On the second occasion, on Brigade passing out day, they fired artillery towards the Palali High Security Zone, owing to which the Defence Secretary and the Army Commander couldn’t participate at the event.

LTTE should not be underestimated or overestimated in the battlefront, as LTTE is still intact in north Vavuniya, Madhu and North Mannar.

Despite the problems within the organisation and Army and Air Force firepower, as well as ‘drying up’ their sea supply route, the LTTE is still intact.

The LTTE didn’t withdraw completely, like from Sampoor and Thoppigala, they remain and are holding west Vavuniya and Madhu .

57 Division was established in Vavuniya in May last year and is operating west of Vavuniya and north Madhu. Army progress is slow because areas surrounding Madhu church is considered sacred.

The LTTE is still capable of supplying their frontline cadres with rations and arms and ammo, as well as reinforcements.

It would suffice if Army gains little by little
Battlefronts differ. The Jaffna battlefront is very different. The Army destroyed the LTTE’s FDL. It presently operates from no man’s land, deploying well experienced marksmen to snipe second line LTTE cadres, while firing artillery and MBRL from time to time.

In Weli Oya, the 59 Division’s battlefront is thick jungle, where soldiers are trained for jungle warfare. The Army was able to kill 8 LTTE cadres and handover their body’s to the ICRC, over the last few days.

LTTE’s night attacks
In 2005, the LTTE launched a night attack on Trincomalee Kaddaparichan army camp and at the same time they attacked Muttur from Sampoor.

The Army successfully repulsed the attack and consolidate Muttur and Kaddaparichhan and launch offensive operations on Sampoor, a Sea Tiger hub and the main threat to Trincomalle harbour, finally clearing Trincomalee of the LTTE.

In 2006, the LTTE launched a night attack on Kayts island and Muhamalai in Jaffna, but the Army repulsed the attack. Another major night offensive was on 232 Brigade in Batticaloa, where the Army repulsed the attack.

In 2007, LTTE launched a night attack on Anuradhapura Air Base and destroyed several training crafts and UAV’s. LTTE aircraft dropped bombs on Colombo, Katunayake, Anuradhapura and Jaffna.

In the past, the LTTE has launched many night operations, causing military debacles. There were Brigade and Division wipeouts such as Mullaithivu Brigade and 54 Division at Elephant pass, which happened purely due to the negligence of then and present serving officers.

Prabhakaran
LTTE leader Prabakaran’s health is very good, a source from the Wanni said. He further confirmed that when the Air Force bombed the LTTE’s Xray Base located in Kalmadukuli Iranamadhu in Kilinochchi, on January 23, at 11.15 am, Prabakaran was in his bunker complex. While trying to escape from the tunnel his leg was severely wounded. As a result, Prabakaran is confined to bed, while receiving treatment.

A team of doctors from Kilinochichi Hospital were blindfolded and taken to Prabakaran’s bunker. After doctors examined it was revealed that his leg had gangrene and it may have to be amputated if proper treatment was not given immediately.

Wanni sources further revealed that Prabhakaran urgently needed hospitalisation to treat his leg, which gangrened as his diabetes continues to fluctuate.

I mentioned in my previous column titled “Prabakaran Is Ailing” that, if any media calls LTTE military spokesman Rasiiya Illanthriyan, he will say Prabhakaran is in good health and in command.

The simple logic is that if Illanthriyan tells media that his leader is not in good health, is not in command and is confined to bed, then, LTTE cadres, sympathisers and Tamil diaspora will be demoralised.

LTTE never ever admits when their leaders are wounded in the battlefront. For example, when LTTE intelligence head Pottu Amman was seriously wounded while fighting the IPKF, the LTTE didn’t admit it.

That Pottu Amman was wounded and smuggled to Tamil Nadu, was revealed many years later by Adele Balasingham, in her book “The Will To Freedom”.

When LTTE Sea Tiger Leader Soosai was seriously wounded, the LTTE did not admit it. After he recovered only did LTTE admit that Soosai that was accidently wounded. Although Pottu Amman is an intelligence chief, he was a Jaffna military commander in 1997.

Wanni battle is lead by Banu, Jaffna by Theelepan, Mannar by Swarnam and Weli Oya by Luxman.

According to intelligence, the above leaders are not satisfied with Pottu Amman in command, because he is not very popular with the rest of leaders.

Within the organisation, he was behind the ousting of leaders such as Mahandraraja alias Mahathhaya, Yogi and Karuna.
Sea Tiger leader Soosai does not take orders from Pottu Amman and is operating on his own.

Head of the LTTE Intelligence Unit (TOSI), Shanmugaligam Sivashanker, better known as Pottu Amman, is a secretive man, of whom nothing much is known. Wanted by the Interpol for terrorism, he has been the mystery man of the LTTE.

Pottu Amman, born in 1962, joined the LTTE in early 1982, after a long stint in India. His wife is from Sandiweli, near the Eastern University, and they have two children, a girl, and a boy.

According to Interpol, he is very alert and well aquainted in the art of disguise. He is capable of handling arms and explosives. Sources privy to LTTE inside information say that Pottu Amman`s life was more of a secret than Prabhakaran`s.

He headed all the suicide attacks against the country’s political leaders and anti-LTTE Tamil political party members and military installations. He is the mastermind behind the assassinations of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, former President Ranasinghe Premadasa, former Foreign Minister Laxman Kadiragamar and also the attack on the Anuradhapura airbase. He is the head of the LTTE suicide wing.

LTTE links with Al Qaeda

Eritrea, Al Qaeda affiliates
Since the United Nations arms embargo on Eritrea and Ethiopia, the Horn of Africa has evolved into a major hub for the informal arms trade. In opposition to Ethiopian military support to the Transitional Government in Somalia, the Government of Eritrea is accused of providing material support to the Islamist rebels in Somalia led by the Islamic Courts Union (ICU). The ICU which controls areas in Southern Somalia is a constituent member of the Union of Islam (Al Ittihad al Islamiya) headed by Hassan Dahir Aweys, having close affiliations with the al Qaeda. The Bakaaraha arms market near Irtogte in South Mogadishu, is considered the central distribution point for the informal arms trade in the Horn of Africa. A report by the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia, under Security Council Resolution 1724 (2006), dated July 18, 2007, provides explicit evidence of Eritrean involvement in the transport of weapons to Somalia.

The report provides evidence relating to the purchase of cargo aircraft by Eriko Enterprises in Asmara, which is believed to be a front company of the Eritrean government to make regular weapons deliveries to Somalia.

The same company is also referred to by The London Times, in a February 2007 article, in which it claims to have evidence that General Tambi, of the Eritrean Defence Forces, used Eriko Enterprises to charter several Antonov and Ilyusion transport aircraft from Aerolift Aviation, to move large quantities of men and material to Somali. In addition, the UN report also states that the Eritrean government delivered a consignment of six SA-18 surface-to-air missiles to the ICU in Somalia.

Eritrea has emerged as a major transshipment point and sanctuary for key players in the informal arms trade. The LTTE established a presence in Eritrea, primarily, to operate in the informal arms market. It is believed that the LTTE maintains regular interactions with many armed groups, including groups affiliated to the al Qaeda, operating in the Eritrean Network. The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee report dated December 15, 2006, explicitly stated that the Government of Eritrea provides direct support to the LTTE. The Eritrean connection is extremely important to the LTTE, in fact, LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran sent a personally signed fax to President Isaias Afewerki of Eritrea on May 24, 2006, communicating directly with a Head of State. President Afewerki, prior to the secession of Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1993, led the Eritrea People’s Liberation Front (EPLF), a rebel movement for the independence of Eritrea.

 The UN report also indicates that most of the weapons flights to Somalia, originate from the port city of Massawa in Eritrea. The report documents several Aerogem Aviation aircraft operated by Fab Air, making regular deliveries to Somalia. The LTTE shipping fleet is known to have a presence in several East African ports. In fact, on May 23, 1997, the LTTE vessel MV Limassol took delivery of a consignment of mortars from Zimbabwe Defence Industries at the Port of Beira in Mozambique. The sea access from Massawa port in Eritrea, provides convenient shipping facilities for the LTTE to transport weapons to international waters off the coast of Sri Lanka.

Courtesy, Institute of Counter Terrorism