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LTTE
cornered and cut off
The
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were restricted by
the Sri Lankan military to an area of 350 sq. kms by January
20. And by January 26, it was further restricted to an area
of 270 sq. kms. To be precise, the Tigers have lost some 80
sq. kms within six days.
The LTTE’s last bastion of Mullaitivu was captured by
the Sri Lankan military on January 25 (Sunday). This was officially
announced Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka who addressed
the nation over television.
Mullaitivu is the city around which the LTTE had built the
last of their earth bunds to thwart any military advance.
The entire operation to capture the town was planned under
the command of the Sri Lanka Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath
Fonseka and ably supervised by Security Forces Commander Vavuniya
Maj. Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya, who continued to provide the
necessary instructions.
The Sri Lanka Army’s 59 Division commander Brigadier
Nandana Udawatte had a brief discussion with his two Brigade
Commanders, 591 Brigade commanded by Colonel Aruna Ariyasinghe
and 593 Brigade commanded by Lt. Colonel Jayantha Liyanage.
Deputy General Officer Commanding of 59 Division Colonel Laksiri
Waduge too participated in the discussions.
On January 22, the Sri Lanka Air Force helicopter gunships,
fighter jets and artilery destroyed parts of the earth bund
put up by the LTTE to prevent the security forces from entering
the Mullaitivu town. Concurrently the Brigade and Division
commanders had a discussion over entering Mullaitivu. Their
main priority according to instructions received by the Sri
Lanka Army Commander was to minimize their losses and also
civilian casualties. The task of the 593 Brigade, under Colonel
Jayantha Liyanage, was to infiltrate the LTTE held Mullaitivu
town from a south to east direction, across the lagoon. The
591 Brigade, under Colonel Aruna Ariyasinghe, was tasked to
advance on a south to north direction.
Special team
On January 24, night, the Sri Lanka Army was ready for its
operation. There was a special team which swam across the
Nandhikadal or ‘Sea of Nanthi’ lagoon, the stretch
of water between the mainland and the land jutting out from
Mullaitivu towards the north. This column will not divulge
the identities of those in this team for obvious reasons.
It was pitch dark and silent, barring the sound of intermittent
artillery fire in the area. Two soldiers from the team swam
across the Nanthikadal under cover of darkness. After emerging
on enemy territory, these two brave men neutralized the LTTE
bunker by silencing the Tiger cadre manning it. They used
their techniques, in keeping with their military training,
to achieve this in total silence. Then they fixed their end
of a cable they had pulled across the lagoon, which had the
other end fastened to their starting point. This enabled the
others in the team to cross the ‘Sea of Nanthi’
with ease. By day break, this team had entered Mullaitivu
town and were waiting for the signal from the 591 Brigade
to proceed.
When the signal was received, the 591troops opened fire with
their Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) on the LTTE bunkers.
The Tigers failed in their attempts to counter the fire power
of the government security forces. From Alampil to mullaitivu,
the LTTE had put up four earth bunds. And on the side of the
bund was a parallel ditch, heavily booby trapped. Lt. Col.
Chaminda Lamahewa along with his troops was the first to enter
the Mullaitivu town area from the land side.
Meanwhile, by 9.00 in the morning, while fighting raged in
the area, news had reached the media in Colombo and many started
speculating that Mullaitivu had been captured by the Sri Lanka
Army. But the Sri Lanka Army Commander told this columnist
that the Army troops had only entered the Mullaitivu town
area. He further added that his troops would take over the
town within a few hours.
The Tigers attacked the troops with their Multi Purpose Machine
Guns (MPMG) and RPGs. Troops overcame the resistance and the
Tigers were fleeing the area while leaving their dead behind.
Thus Mullaitivu was liberated by the Sri Lankan military after
twelve-and-a-half years.
The 59 Division was launched from the Weli Oya region on January
20, 2008. And within one year it had advanced and contributed
to the capture of the last major Tiger stronghold, Mullaitivu.
The first phase of the LTTE’s ‘Operation Oyatha
Alaigal’ or Unceasing Waves was conducted in July 1996
in Mullaitivu. The Army camp there was demolished, and the
town was taken control of by the LTTE. This became a launching
pad for the Tigers and during the second phase of the operation,
in September 1998, the Kilinochchi military complex too was
overrun. More than 2,000 soldiers were killed in these operations.
The armed forces have not been able to wrest control of these
areas after that, but today they have reversed the tide.
The entire Brigade, which was stationed at Mullaitivu, came
continuously under severe Tiger attacks for two to three days
in 1996. The officers and soldiers fought back bravely and
the then Army Commander Lt. Gen. Srilal Weerasuriya ordered
for reinforcements. One of the Brigades sent as reinforcement
was the Special Forces (SF). At that time, the Special Forces
were conducting operations in the now famous Thoppigala or
Baron’s Cap area in the east. They were air-lifted to
Mullaitivu under the command of Colonel Fazly Laphir, who
was one of the pioneers of the SF. The helicopters did not
land but the SF personnel jumped out of them in the Chilawatte
area. They engaged the LTTE cadres for two days. The SF was
able to kill more than 40 Tiger cadres – which fact was
confirmed by intercepted LTTE radio messages. But during the
battle, Col. Laphir sacrificed his life and several others
sustained injuries. Subsequently the LTTE was able to seize
control of the entire Mullaitivu Base along with two artillery
pieces of the Sri Lanka Army. Later the SF personnel withdrew
and returned to base. A significant number of troops and officers
were killed during this battle.
After the fall of Mullaitivu, the LTTE is now restricted only
to the Visvamadu and Puthukudyiruppu areas. The Task Force
2 under Brigadier Rohana Bandara, the Task Force 3 under Col.
Sathyapriya Liyanage, the Task Force 4 under Col. Nishantha
Wanniarachchi as well as the 59 Division are advancing in
three formations on to these areas and are now entering the
Puthukudyiruppu area. Meanwhile the 57 Division commanded
by Maj. Gen. Jagath Dias too is entering the Visvamadu/Puthukudyiruppu
areas. The 58 Division under Brigadier Shavendra Silva too
is marching towards the same area from the A 35 road from
the north and sections of the south of Visvamadu/Puthukudyiruppu
areas. At the same time, the 55 Division commanded by Brigadier
Prasanna Silva is advancing from the Chundikulam area in a
north to south direction. Now the entire Visvamadu-Puthukudyiruppu
area is under siege and the final assault of the Eelam War
IV is on, while the Sri Lanka Air Force helicopter gunships
and fighter jets are rendering their fullest support to ground
troops.
Ready for floods
On January 24 (Saturday) morning, the LTTE implemented a desperate
strategy to slow down the advance of the troops. Its cadres
blasted a section of the Kalmadukulam irrigation tank bund.
Kalmadukulm is the second largest irrigation facility in the
embattled region. It provides irrigation water to some 500
acres of land area. The resulting flood of water affected
the entire Visvamadu area. A section of the Paranthan-Visvamadu
A 35 road at Ramanathapuram, Dharmapuram and Visvamadu areas
was flooded. Pro-LTTE websites active from Colombo transmitted
the news that 1,500 soldiers were killed due to this incident.
But when this columnist inquired from a senior officer at
the battlefront he said, “We have been experiencing this
type of floods during the recent monsoonal rains too. Therefore
we have experience on how to safeguard ourselves.”
Knowing well that this final assault is crucial for its survival,
the LTTE cadres may resort to some different tactics. They
may bury their hardware, explosives armaments and ammunition
and mingle with the civilians and arrive at government controlled
areas. The active cadres will then become sleeping cadres.
But once resettled among the civilians, they may pick up their
buried arms and explosives and resort to guerilla tactics,
which is the normal guerilla culture. Here again, it is worthy
of mention that they will resort to this tactic only if the
leadership remains intact or another tier of leadership evolves.
Thus, the future challenge facing the government and its armed
forces and police is to prevent this scenario from happening.At
the time of writing Troops had entered visumadu and Puthukkudyiruppu.
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