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Army
entry into Kilinochchi imminent!
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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