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Tigers
are restricted to within 350 sq. kms. by 20th morning. And
are daily losing 5 to 12 kms.
On February 13, 2008, this column, in an exclusive exposure,
revealed the existence of LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran’s
bunker
On February 13, 2008 this column, in an exclusive exposure,
revealed the existence of LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran’s
bunker (see graphic and pics) three stories underground. This
column further revealed that this particular bunker, which
was similar to several others, was equipped with all the comforts
that Prabhakaran needs. So what was mentioned then in The
Bottom Line has been proved correct, as the Sri Lanka Army’s
(SLA) 583 Brigade commanded by Col. Suraj Bansajaya, liberated
Dharmapuram last Friday the army while on clearing operations,
came across this bunker, among a host of Palmyra thatched
houses. The entrance to the bunker too was covered by a Palmyra
thatched roof, to make it look like just another house. And
Prabhakaran is said to have left strict instructions to destroy
each and every bunker, in case they withdraw in the face of
an Army onslaught. Did they have the time to destroy?
The second fact that this column revealed was that the LTTE
does posses underground fuel storage facilities in the Mullaitivu
area.
On January 19, troops of 583 Brigade were consolidating their
positions in Dharmapuram, when they detected this fuel storage
facility. They found some 300 barrels of fuel, each containing
225 litres of diesel, buried among coconut fronds in a 10-acre
plot in the Dharmapuram area. To protect this oil storage,
the LTTE had fixed booby traps and explosives around the area.
When troops of 583 Brigade reached Dharmapuram, many LTTE
assets were found left behind. Among them was a bullet proof
truck and several more vehicles which the Tigers had been
unable to take with them while fleeing. According to advancing
troops, the Tigers are still mounting barrages of 152mm artillery
and 81mm mortar fire .
Army Commander’s comment
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Army commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka
met local and foreign journalists on Saturday (17) and when
one journalist asked him about Tiger head Prabhakaran, Lt.
Gen. Fonseka told him that he believes that Prabhakaran has
already fled the island. He also told the journalists that
the Army had cornered the LTTE in Mullaitivu, and furthermore,
even now troops were entering parts of Mullaitivu and confronting
the Tigers. “If he has any sense, he will definitely
leave the country,” the Army Commander added. Elaborating
further, he said that the only alternative for the LTTE was
the sea route and Prabhakaran would flee to a country like
Eritrea, Cambodia, South Africa or Malaysia. “Prabhakaran
has a lot of money collected from the Tamil diaspora. For
a person who has millions of dollars at his disposal, access
to these countries is no problem,” the Commander added.
When journalists asked Gen. Fonseka whether Prabhakaran would
commit suicide, he gave a firm “No”. “He is
a family man who loves his family. He loves his children and
has sent them overseas for their education. Therefore, he
will not commit suicide,” he added.
Is LTTE’s chain of command lost ?
If Prabhakaran has left the country, it means that the LTTE’s
chain of command has been broken. When this happens and, if
there is a lack of command during a battle, definitely, the
Tigers will be at the receiving end. Right now, Tigers are
under siege inland in Mullaitivu battlefront
The Tigers are restricted to only some 350 sq. kms. of real
estate. And daily they are losing 5 to 12 kms.
591 Brigade of 59 Division, commanded by Col. Aruna Ariyasinghe
is presently on a south to north direction towards Mullaitivu
and are in the Chillawatte area which is just about 3 kms
to Mullaitivu town. According to sources in the battlefront,
the LTTE has built another earth bund at Chillawatte, surrounding
Mullaitivu town. As this column was being written, troops
of 591 Brigade engaged this bund, and once it is overcome,
they will be inside Mullaitivu town proper. A few feet inside
of the bund, the Tigers have dug a six-foot trench line and
have laid booby traps and mines. But according to senior officers,
thes type of obstacles were readily found and overcome by
troops in Mannar, Pooneryn and Kilinochchi areas as well.
591 Brigade is responsible for dominating the entire eastern
coast. And the way they have set about it, now only about
38 kms of the coastline is within Tiger control.
Identifying enemy locations and destroying them is the priority.
On January 17, 593 Brigade commanded by Lt Col Jayantha Gunarathne
entered the southern part of the Puthukudiiruppu jungles.
While conducting operations in this area, troops came across
a massive boatyard. After severe clashes, troops recovered
seven bodies of LTTE cadres and 70 T-56 rifles with ammunition.
This LTTE boatyard was located at Maruthampuvel area. Troops
also detected two overhead bunkers two permanent buildings
and six temporary huts. Troops also recovered two fast attack
craft, two water jets and smaller boats to be used as suicide
attack craft.
Task Force 4 commanded by Col. Nissanka Wanniarachchi and
Task Force 2 commanded by Brig. Rohana Bandara and Task Force
3 commanded by Brig. Sathyapriya Liyanage are advancing on
a south to north direction on Mullaitivu. 57 Division commanded
by Maj. Gen. Jagath Dias has two Brigades, 571 commanded by
Lt Col Harendra Ranasinghe and 572 commanderd by Lt Col Dammika
Jayasundare, marching from Kilinochchi east to the southern
edge of Mullaitivu. 571 and 572 Brigades liberated the entire
Ramanathapuram area and were consolidating their positions
on January 17. Ramanathapuram is the second largest buildup
apart from Kilinochchi town, located 6 to 10 kms east of the
A-9 road from Iranamadu.
Meanwhile, troops of 55 Division commanded by Brig. Prasanna
Silva, marching from the Chundikulam area confronted Tiger
cadres. The Division is heading from north to south direction,
while the 58 Division too is marching on a north to south
direction and heading towards the Vishvamadu area. Task Force
3 commanded by Brig. Satyapriya Liyanage too is heading towards
Vishvamadu and along with 58 Division are facing stiff Tiger
resistance.
Air Force ops
Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Unmanned Aerial
Vehicles (UAVs) are continuously monitoring the battlefield
areas. On January 18, SLAF gunships were able to destroy a
LTTE 81mm mortar launching pad. The SLAF also provided clear
evidence via UAV video footage, of the destruction of two
Tiger artillery pieces while they were being shifted away
from the Elephant Pass region. As soon as the UAVs detected
the movements of these artillery pieces, two jets from the
Katunayake air base destroyed them.
Military successes was due to perfect planning as well as
brilliant leadership
Vavuniya Security Forces (SF) Commander Maj. Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya
said, “Military successes were due to perfect planning
as well as good leadership”. He added that there were
42 unclaimed LTTE bodies lying in the Vavuniya Hospital. The
Army has been unable to hand them over as nobody had claimed
them. So, the hospital authorities had made arrangements to
bury them after conducting postmortems. He also said that
the number of civilians escaping the Tigers’ clutches
was increasing day by day, and that special centers have been
set up in Vavuniya and the IDPs were being well looked after.
Along the A-35 Road, near the 10th Mile post, four kms north
of Pulliyampokkani, there is a small built up area surrounded
by jungle, which is believed to be an LTTE command and control
centre. Near the 15th milepost, along the A-35 Road, the LTTE
has built up a High Security Zone located in Kuravil Kulam
and its cadres are firing artillery at the advancing troops.
Prabhakaran’s security guard makes confession to Army
An LTTE hardcore cadre, Yasodharan, arrested by the SLA, under
interrogation, said that he was a member of V. Prabhakaran’s
security team. He said that he had been assigned to the battlefront
since the LTTE was running short of cadres. He had left Prabhakaran’s
security team around three months ago. Prior to that, he had
been in the advanced scouting team tasked with security arrangements
for the Tiger leader. He claimed to have seen Prabhakaran
and that he had transported food and water for him four months
ago. He said that, before Prabhakaran consumed anything, an
LTTE cadre always tasted the food or drink. There is also
an LTTE doctor who monitors Prabhakaran’s health continuously.
He injects insulin to control Prabhakaran’s diabetic
condition, said Yasodharan.
Prabhakaran’s mode of communication
Prabhakaran communicates with his leaders via satellite phone.
These SIM cards are brought from India, Singapore and Thailand.
But since of late, he has stopped using these phones too,
as he knows that the SLA’s intelligence unit is capable
of monitoring his calls.
According to reliable sources, Prabhakaran sends messages
to his senior leaders such as Theepan and Nadeson via messengers.
When the initial message is conveyed and received by these
leaders, they go to the specified location and from there,
trusted LTTE cadres lead them to where Prabhakaran is. This
top secret communication method within the outfit has its
advantages and also disadvantages. Currently, it has been
proved disadvantageous to the LTTE.
LTTE cadres demoralized, attempt to build morale with Tamil
diaspora
Losing ground as well as cadres has been a highly demoralising
factor for the remaining Tiger cadres. Battlefront reports
say that some of them may even surrender to the advancing
security forces. Some who have done so, have told the Army
that engaging the security forces now was a futile exercise.
They also claim that the leaders are not in the forefront
of battle and also morale was very low due to the lack of
food and medicine.
Pro-LTTE websites, especially try their utmost to build up
morale among the Tamil diaspora. Recently, one of them indicated
that the LTTE was in possession of Main Battle Tanks (MTBs)
and that it had its own Mechanised Infantry Division which
is at the battlefront to defeat the SLA. The million-dollar
question is, when the SLA was poised to overrun Kilinochchi,
what was this Mechanized Infantry Division doing?
And according to fresh information, the LTTE had modified
two earth moving machines and loaded them with explosives,
with the intention of ramming them against the Army’s
defences. But unfortunately, for the LTTE, the SLAF detected
them, along with another vehicle, and destroyed them. Day
by day, the LTTE is losing ground and cadres.
Navy destroyed LTTE boats
On January 19, around 11.30 pm, the Sri Lanka Navy thwarted
an LTTE attempt to getaway. The Navy’s Fast Attack Craft
(FACs) intercepted a flotilla of LTTE Sea Tiger boats launched
from Mullaithivu, which were attempting to get away and engaged
them, destroying four LTTE boats, forcing the enemy to retreat
and abandon the mission.
One SLN FAC was damaged due to an explosion of an LTTE suicide
boat nearby.
Defence Attaches monitor Sri Lanka battle
Defence
Attaches from two diplomatic missions in Europe and the Far
East told this columnist that the Sri Lanka’s military
tactics have been brilliant. They also said that they never
believed that a near 30-year-old terrorist organisation like
the LTTE could be defeated 90% within a span of a mere two
years. But they stated that, even if the LTTE is defeated
militarily defeated its sleepers could be activated after
the war is over. To address this issue, the Sri Lankan Government
and military will need public support. For instance, in the
Jaffna peninsula, the Army received quite a lot of information
on LTTE sleepers. So, addressing this issue is in the hands
of the authorities. What will happen to Velupillai Prabhakaran
and his leaders?
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