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Killinochchi
under siege!
571,572
and 573 Brigades attached to the 57th Division and elite Special
Forces are tactically moving towards Mallavi, Tunukkai and
Mankulam. (I will not mention any battalion commanders’
names for very valid reasons).
572 Brigade captured Vannivilankulam, south of Mallavi and
was moving towards Mankulam, Mallavi and further north. The
LTTE tried its level best to hold Vannivilankulam, but failed.
The Tigers are desperately trying to hold Mankulam, summoning
additional cadres from the north to Mankulam to strengthen
their defence lines with heavily fortified bunkers, trenches
and ditches, protecting their bunkers, as well as setting
up booby traps as they did at Vannivilankulam and Mannar but
they failed. Up to date, the LTTE could not stop any advance
from the four fronts (the 57th Division from Vavuniya north,
Task Force 2 from the eastern flank of the A9 road, the 58th
Division from north of Mannar and the 59th Division from Welioya
towards Mullaitivu).
Troops of the 57th Division comprising battalions from the
3rd Gajaba regiment (3GR), 7th Ceylon Light Infantry (7CLI)
and 8th Gajaba regiment (8GR) were involved in the operation
in Vannivilankulam. The operation was launched by Maj. Gen.
J Dias on Friday morning, by elite Special Forces teams which
infiltrated the enemy lines in the afternoon and waited for
their orders from their commanding officer. In pitch darkness,
troops belonging to 3GR sneaked toward the Vannivilankulam
tank. At the same time, troops belonging to 8GR and 7CLI advanced
from the left of Vannivilankulam and cut off any exit and
entry points. Troops in the vicinity of Vannivilankulam had
given their artillery the exact target so that artillery fire
was raining on Vannivilankulam, but at the same time, the
LTTE retaliated with 120mm mortars. The entire area resounded
with the noise of artillery and gunfire.
Troops
moved towards LTTE territory attacking with T56 rifles and
Multi Purpose Machine Guns (MPMGs) as well as Rocket Propelled
Grenades (RPGs). The LTTE cadres were trapped in Vannivilankulam
the whole day and, by the evening, the battle was over and
troops gained control of Vannivilankulam. At the end of the
furious battle, the LTTE lost 30 cadres including eight senior
LTTE leaders of the ‘Charles Anthony’ brigade, a
report said. Meanwhile, seven soldiers and one officer were
killed and 18 soldiers wounded.
The senior LTTE cadres killed during this fierce battle were
identified as Pallavan, Ambumani, Selvakannan, Sellappu, Muhi,
Illambu, Sudar and Jenathan who were at the commanding level
of the ‘Charles Anthony’ brigade in the Mannar sector.
The LTTE had given the self-styled rank of ‘Lieutenant
Colonel’ to Pallavan and Ambumani, the report further
added.
Troops reportedly recovered 23 T-56 rifles, one Rocket Propelled
Gun (RPG), 14 radio sets, four RPG rounds, two hand grenades,
1.5 kg of explosives, six T-56 magazines, one 15 m long detonator
cord, one motor cycle and several explosive items left behind
by the dead and retreating cadres.
As was said before, in this Eelam 4 war, when the SL Army
conducted its offensive on five fronts, the LTTE had to utilise
its limited cadres on these fronts. This was not an experience
the Tigers had before.
Mankulam is very important for the LTTE because the road from
Mankulam junction leads to Killinochchi and Mullaitivu. The
Tigers know very well if the SL Army captures Mankulam at
any moment, a surprise attack on Killinochchi could be a possibility.
Killinochchi would then be under siege. To defend Vidalaitivu
in Mannar district the LTTE had built earth bunds six to ten
feet high as defence lines, with bunkers constructed of teak
timber. It was a surprise to me to see how the SL Army overcame
such giant defence lines and entered LTTE territory. On July
24 and 25, troops on the combined Mannar-Vavuniya front were
gradually inching their way towards the road leading from
Vellankulam to Mankulam and are now reportedly operating close
to Mallavi after a series of confrontations causing sizable
damage to the LTTE.
Meanwhile, troops of Task Force 2 operating on the eastern
flank of the combined Mannar-Vavuniya front had several clashes
with the terrorists in the Palamoddai and Navvi areas on Friday.
In the Palamoddai area, troops confronted some Tigers around
11.45 a.m. and claimed one Tiger was killed and four others
wounded. A soldier reportedly suffered injuries due to an
Improvised Explosive Device (IED) exploding in the same area
around 10.10 a.m. When I asked a soldier involved in the operation
about its progress he said ‘if there is a will there
is a way.’ He said soldiers conducted night operations
as well. This means the soldiers’ tour of duty comprises
day as well as night operations. He further said ‘whenever
we capture LTTE territory we have tremendous satisfaction
which cannot be expressed in words.’
Troops operate in small groups waiting in ambush for hours
for LTTE cadres.
A soldier wipes his sniper gun with a cloth and climbs a tree
and sits in a small hut built in it. He closes his left eye
and takes a look with his right eye through the binocular
lens built into his sniper gun at the thick jungle ahead of
the Welioya front. The soldier who is on the tree observes
a group of Tigers but holds his fire, because his target is
the leader of the group. He sees one LTTE cadre ordering the
rest of the cadres and continually talking on a radio set.
The soldier believes this cadre is the leader because of his
movements. The soldier takes aim at the LTTE cadre but finds
it difficult to get at his target because of the thick foliage.
However, when he spots the leader in a vulnerable position
he pulls the trigger on his sniper gun and the Tiger leader
falls. In a few seconds, the rest of the cadres panic, while
the soldiers in ambush open fire at the LTTE cadres, who retaliate.
The LTTE cadres, finding it difficult to face the heavy fire
of the soldiers, withdraw with their dead and wounded. After
this fire fight troops belonging to the 59th Division advance
in thick jungle defusing Johnny mines and IEDs. At times the
soldiers faced resistance and some got wounded but, they were
able to advance and capture the Sugandan base, which is a
satellite base of the One Four Base complex.
This entire base is well constructed with concrete and underground
bunkers. “The Sri Lanka Army does not have Forward Defensive
Lines (FDLs). At the moment, we are having Forward Offensive
Lines (FOLs),” a senior officer told me, while I was
on a tour of the battle front.
LTTE Wanni leader Banu had reportedly told his cadres, “Do
not come back. If any of you come back all of you will be
shot. I carry orders from the top. Your duty is to protect
the Tamil homeland.” He had reportedly told the rest
of the leaders who were on the front line, “All of you
must hold the front line. Do not allow the SL Army to enter
our territory.” He had reportedly given this order one
day before the Army’s 57th Division captured Mallavi
South. I have mentioned earlier in this column that, the SL
Army is advancing towards Mallavi. Three LTTE cadres who surrendered
to the troops had reportedly said very plainly they don’t
get any basic needs to fight the battle and accused the LTTE
leadership, adding that there are senior leaders who are not
coming to the battle front but are giving commands from behind
the battle lines. The ones who surrendered said they couldn’t
go to see their loved ones for more than three months and,
when they request to go on leave, they are asked to make their
request to the area leaders.
The
area leaders reportedly turn down their request, saying there
are not enough cadres so you cannot be given leave. There
is said to be much frustration among the cadres so they decided
to surrender to the SL Army. In July alone the LTTE suffered
severe reverses with the SL Army handing over nearly 40 bodies
of Tiger cadres to the LTTE via ICRC and the LTTE losing territory.
Mankulam junction, the LTTE supply route, will be seriously
affected. In the coming battle, the LTTE will try its level
best to defend its territory while the SL Army will try to
capture Mankulam, Mallavi and Tunukkai in the near future.
Apart from Operation Jayasikuru (operation victory assured),
in Eelam wars one to three, the SL Army launched offensives
in only one direction with the intention of grabbing a land
area. When the LTTE sensed an offensive, the Tigers retaliated
and withdrew to consolidate in another part of the North.
When Mankulam, Mallavi and Tunukkai falls into Army hands
it would be a serious setback to the LTTE because from Mallavi
and Tunukkai to Killinochchi there is only a distance of twenty
to twenty five kilometres.
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