Battle of Kudumpimalai - (Thoppigala)
By Walter Jayawardhana
NOW THE SRI LANKA ARMY IS PLANNING TO STRIKE AT THE JUNGLE HIDE OUTS OF LTTE IN AMPARA DISTRICT
NOW THE SRI LANKA ARMY IS PLANNING TO STRIKE AT THE JUNGLE HIDE OUTS OF LTTE IN AMPARA DISTRICT
After clearing all major Eastern coastal towns of the terrorists of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) the Sri Lanka Army is readying battle plans to clear the few remaining jungle swatches from where the terrorist group is directing its attacks on civilian settlements and Sri Lanka Army garrisons in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka.
The Army Commander Lt. General Sarath Fonseka said they are now concentrating on the LTTE camps in the jungles of Kokadicholai and Thoppigala, which is also referred to as Barron’s Cap in the District of Ampara adjacent to the Batticaloa District, where Vakarai is.
Ampara District is the closest area to the Batticaloa and Trincomalee Districts from where the LTTE has been successfully chased away after 11 years of continuous dominance during the battles of last few weeks.
Sri Lanka Army has also stated in separate statements that hundreds of LTTE cadres from the fallen strongholds of Vakarai Kadiravel and other LTTE strongholds have escaped to Thoppigala and Kokadi Cholai.
LTTE spokesman Rasiah Ilantheriyan (Marshal) said after the fall of their strongholds ,"In the east, there is always a balance between possession of territory and fighting ability, and it may constantly change," The defiant statement of the LTTE indicated they will continue to launch their attacks from Kokadi Cholai and Thoppigala, in the dense jungles. The jungle terrains are well known to the LTTE and it would take more of an effort on the part of the security forces to take them.
But Sri Lanka’s elite police commandos, the Special Task Force took over more than 12 LTTE camps in the nearby Kanjikudichchi Aru jungles in the Ampara District without much resistance. The LTTE, suffering from a severe manpower problem in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka, following the departure of their one time Commander Karuna, who is now leading a breakaway group , are mostly depending on youth abductions to fill a large number of vacancies created by many deaths in the recent battles and in attacks by Karuna himself.
Thoppigala and Kokadi Cholai are the last two strongholds of the LTTE in the Eastern province and Thoppigala is considered to be the base camp.
The Sri Lanka government is also attempting to use the planned attacks on the Ampara jungle camps to induce the rebels to sit down at a negotiating table which the LTTE has evaded continuously.
Defense spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said, "If tomorrow the LTTE says ‘we are ready to stop hostilities and get back to the negotiating table’, we will stop immediately, If they do not, then we’ll have to liberate the Tamil civilians in the east and then call (the Tigers) for negotiations
Friday, 29 June 2007
Conquest of Thoppigala to mark complete liberation of the East New military strategies pay dividends in Eastern battlefront
MILITARY CAMPAIGN:
The Security Forces have entered the final phase of the Thoppigala battle to capture Narakamulla and Tharavikulam Tiger bases. They are poised to take the full control over the Eastern province within the next few days.
Though victory is definite in the Thoppigala battle, no one cannot fix dates for it. Any such hasty decision to fix dates to achieve the task at any cost would spoil all the achievements the Security Forces recorded over the past one year in the East.
The situation in the Thoppigala battle is not in favour of the Tiger outfit. That cannot be denied by anybody. Even the Tiger outfit is keeping a stoic silence over their impending defeat as they have miserably failed in alltheir endeavours to protect this jungle terrain from the advancing troops. Tiger leaders made many desperate attempts to keep this territory under their control. Once this fertile land was exposed to the Security Forces with the capture of the Chenkaladi-Maha Oya A-5 road on April 11, Tiger leader Prabhakaran sent a team led by Ramesh from Wanni taking the cover of thick jungle in Trincomalee.
However, troops detected this movement when the team was crossing the Angodawilluwa marshy land in the South West of Trincomalee and engaged them killing 12 of their cadres along with the buddy of Ramesh and doctor accompanied with the team on April 12.
Troops captured the huge stock of food they carried along after attacking them when they were crossing the jungle to reach Thoppigala.
The Tiger leadership in Wanni made another desperate attempt by sending a team led by Nagulan, the leader of the Charles Anthony Brigade along with highly trained cadres, with a major plan to destabilise the security situation in Batticaloa.
The Security Forces in Sittandi and Eravur detected this Tiger movement too, and killed ten Tiger cadres including Nagulan who held the self styled rank of ‘colonel’ when they were crossing Eravur area foiling their attempt to accomplish their plans to destabilise the civilian life in Batticaloa.
Apart from this the Tiger outfit also sent seven suicide cadres to Batticaloa area to destabilise the situation taking a life of senior security personnel in the area.
But this strategy has also been foiled by the Security Forces as the Police Special Task Force and Army have been able to detect five out of the seven suicide kits sent to cleared areas to create a major disaster.
According to investigations conducted by the Security Forces the suicide cadres sent for these missions have abandoned their missions putting the LTTE leadership in a desperate situation.
Under these circumstances the Tiger outfit has conditioned their minds to face the final battle in Thoppigala in the coming few days as ground troops braving the Tiger booby traps, minefilelds are inching towards the Tiger strong hold in Narakamulla and Tharavikulam. The rocky jungle terrain provides an advantageous situation for the Tiger cadres to launch a major assault on the Security Forces who had to cross the open terrain to reach these Tiger hideouts which have been used by them during the past two decades to train their cadres on jungle warfare.
The Air Force during the past few days provided air support for the advancing troops getting Tiger targets in Narakamulla and Tharavikulam to destroy gun positions.
The capture of Tiger bunkers covered by huge rocks in the jungle is not an easy task, if not for the tactical moves by the Security Forces.
However, troops engaged in the operation have confirmed there is no Tiger presence in Baron’s Cap area where the famous Thoppigala mountain is located. But, they have observed heavy minefields there too, though there was no Tiger presence.
Therefore, the Security Forces are expecting a major battle most probably in Narakamulla area where the Tiger outfit is preparing a group of Tiger cadres to launch a suicidal attack on the troops advancing towards the area.
But troops have received information that many cadres under the leadership of Ramesh had fled the area taking cover of the thick jungle terrain west of Vakarai and south west of Trincomalee in Anaganwilluwa and Trikonamadu.
The other favourable factor for the Security Forces is the sharp differences that had arisen among the remaining Tiger cadres with Jeyam from Wanni giving leadership to Wanni cadres while Nagesh from Batticaloa itself leading Batticaloa cadres.
According to information the group led by Jeyam has been instructed from the Wanni leadership to keep the territory at any cost.
Therefore, troops are expecting heavy resistance from the group led by Jeyam but it is most unlikely to get stiff resistance as their morale has gone down drastically over the last few months.
But the minefields and booby traps will play a decisive role to decide the fall of the last bastion of the Thoppigala to the Security Forces as many obstacles have been placed to slow down the advancement of troops.
However, troops led by 2 Commando, and by 6,7 and 8 battalions of the Gemunu Watch with the support of the engineering troops and artillery and mortar have already encountered the remaining Tiger cadres and thereby completed their task in the East.
Army Commander Lt. General Sarath Fonseka who visited the Maha Oya Commando Brigade on Wednesday instructed the field commanders to achieve the task while ensuring minimum casualties among troops.
The Security Forces strictly maintained the policy of zero civilian casualties and minimum casualties to own troops with the triggering of the Mavil Aru battle in July 28, last year after the LTTE closed the sluice gates of Mavil Aru anicut depriving water for more than 30,000 people south of Trincomalee.
The cutting off of water to the civilian population prompted the Security Forces to take control of the area to ensure that civilians are provided with their basic human needs.
Since then the Security Forces carried out all the operations to end Tiger threats to the civilian population. The Security Forces silently engaged in these missions to flush out Tiger threats mostly from the areas they had occupied after the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement in 2002.
The Tiger outfit slowly moved into these strategic locations like Sampur, Eethalampattu which were abandoned by the Security Forces during the late 1990’s to reinforce the battlefronts in the North, declaring them as Tiger held areas in the Ceasefire Agreement.
The Security Forces had to move step by step, to remove all these Tiger threats from the East starting from Mavil Aru from which the LTTE triggered off their fall in the East. As these battles were fought as defensive moves to flush out Tiger threats, no catchy titles were given for these operations.
Therefore, the common masses were not aware of the efforts taken by the Security Forces as they usually heard about military operations by their titles.
So far the Security Forces have conducted nine operations in the East including the Thoppigala operation to take full control over the Eastern province.
Mavil Aru Mavil Aru Battle fought from July 28 to October 13 in 2006, Sampur battle fought from August 27 to September 31, 2006, the operation conducted to take control of Gangai, Manirasakulam in the West of Muttur from October 1 to 10 in 2006 were the major battles fought in Trincomalee.
The Vakarai Kathirveli operation conducted from October 30, 2006 to January 07, 2007, operation conducted in February 2007 to take control of Kaddawan area in Trincomalee North and the operation conducted from February 21 to March 08, 2007 to take control over Peraru jungle area in Trincomalee North and Kumbruppiddi were also among these operations which did not have any attractive titles.
Finally troops conducted an operation from February 24 to April 12 to take control over the areas in the west of Batticaloa including the Chenkaladi - Maha Oya road and they are now engaged in the final battle in the East in Thoppigala.
Apart from this Police Special Task Force also carried out the operation to clear Tiger threats from the Kanchikudichchuaru jungles.
Though some politically motivated and parties with vested interests saw this as an easy walk for the Security Forces it was not such an easy task as they see things from the outside.
They had to confront Tiger cadres equipped with state-of-the-art weapon systems like artillery and Multi Barrel Rocket Launchers, which were never seen in the Eastern battles in the past.
The number of artillery guns recovered from Vakarai, Kathirveli areas give a clear picture as to how they were equipped with modern weapons and ammunitions to face the Security Forces.
The Security Forces engaged in search operations even after the resettlement of civilians in Vakarai have unearthed huge stocks arms and ammunition left behind by the fleeing Tiger cadres.
The number of weapons recovered from the area exceeds the number of Tiger cadres believed to have been present in Vakarai and Kathirveli.
If not for the humanitarian mission by the Security Forces to liberate the civilian population the entire civilian population would have been militarised by the LTTE.
The troops are now facing a battle with a fully equipped Tiger outfit, unlike the Tiger outfit in the 1990’s.
If the Security Forces engaged in these battles following the rules set by the previous battles fought in the country, they would have, by now, seen a tragic end to their battles in the East.
They learnt lessons from each and every battle fought in the East. At the initial stage of the Mavil Aru battle there were many casualties among troops but troops later changed their strategy to maintain a minimum casualty rate.
Even in the Vakarai battle in which Security Forces learnt many lessons in their effort to capture Vakarai, entering Tiger territory through their FDLs in Kajuwatta as many casualties were reported among the troops engaged in the mission.
The Security Forces later followed surprise moves to capture Tiger territory making unexpected moves and attacking them from the rear of their defences. But the Security Forces had to be extra vigilant once they followed this method.
They followed the same strategy in the follow up battles in Batticaloa West too.
If not for these new strategies there would have been many setbacks and debacles in the nature of Mullaitivu,
Therefore, any criticism against the Security Forces on having a heavy casualty rate in the East or in the Wanni battlefronts is a criticism made without any study of the facts as they have maintained the lowest casualty rates. It is a criticism forgetting the major debacles like Pooneryn, Mullaitivu and Elephant Pass in which thousands of troops perished in one night.
The small team operations conducted by the Security Forces to gain control of the strategic locations in the East also helped the Security Forces to maintain a low casualty rate and to inflict heavy casualties on the Tiger cadres.
But it is not an easy task for the Security Forces to engage in these operations as they could be vulnerable to Tiger attack at any moment.
But tactically they are in more advantageous position to identify Tiger locations correctly and give directions to take targets by artillery and mortar.
The risk of losing a larger number of troops in a single battle was effectively lessened by following the practice of small teams operations throughout the battles they faced in the Eastern theatre.
The adoption of this strategy minimised the risk of losing vast territories to the Tiger outfit in the face of a major offensive to capture cleared areas by the LTTE.
Through a readjustment of the temporarily laid defences the Security Forces effectively faced the challenges posed by the Tiger outfit. Through the adoption of these strategies in the Eastern battles the Security Forces have been able to take control of over 2296 square kilometres.
This includes 255 Sq Km in Mavil Aru and Sampur, 126 Sq in West of Muttur, 517 SQ Km in Vakarai and Kathirveli, 197 Sq in Kaddawan, 56 Sq Km in Peraru, 395 Sq Km in Kumburupiddi and 750 Sq Km in West of Batticaloa.
The Security Forces have achieved all this within one year liberating nearly 200,000 civilians from Tiger threats, maintaining a zero casualty rate among the civilians entrapped in the conflict affected areas and killing over 1,300 Tiger cadres in battles in the East including the battle in Thoppigala.
These victories have been recorded keeping the casualty rate of the Security Forces at a minimum level. Therefore, the biggest achievements recorded by the Security Forces, effectively taking control over the Eastern province cannot be undermined as they have achieved all these facing the maximum threat posed by the Tiger outfit.
Though victory is definite in the Thoppigala battle, no one cannot fix dates for it. Any such hasty decision to fix dates to achieve the task at any cost would spoil all the achievements the Security Forces recorded over the past one year in the East.
The situation in the Thoppigala battle is not in favour of the Tiger outfit. That cannot be denied by anybody. Even the Tiger outfit is keeping a stoic silence over their impending defeat as they have miserably failed in alltheir endeavours to protect this jungle terrain from the advancing troops. Tiger leaders made many desperate attempts to keep this territory under their control. Once this fertile land was exposed to the Security Forces with the capture of the Chenkaladi-Maha Oya A-5 road on April 11, Tiger leader Prabhakaran sent a team led by Ramesh from Wanni taking the cover of thick jungle in Trincomalee.
However, troops detected this movement when the team was crossing the Angodawilluwa marshy land in the South West of Trincomalee and engaged them killing 12 of their cadres along with the buddy of Ramesh and doctor accompanied with the team on April 12.
Troops captured the huge stock of food they carried along after attacking them when they were crossing the jungle to reach Thoppigala.
The Tiger leadership in Wanni made another desperate attempt by sending a team led by Nagulan, the leader of the Charles Anthony Brigade along with highly trained cadres, with a major plan to destabilise the security situation in Batticaloa.
The Security Forces in Sittandi and Eravur detected this Tiger movement too, and killed ten Tiger cadres including Nagulan who held the self styled rank of ‘colonel’ when they were crossing Eravur area foiling their attempt to accomplish their plans to destabilise the civilian life in Batticaloa.
Apart from this the Tiger outfit also sent seven suicide cadres to Batticaloa area to destabilise the situation taking a life of senior security personnel in the area.
But this strategy has also been foiled by the Security Forces as the Police Special Task Force and Army have been able to detect five out of the seven suicide kits sent to cleared areas to create a major disaster.
According to investigations conducted by the Security Forces the suicide cadres sent for these missions have abandoned their missions putting the LTTE leadership in a desperate situation.
Under these circumstances the Tiger outfit has conditioned their minds to face the final battle in Thoppigala in the coming few days as ground troops braving the Tiger booby traps, minefilelds are inching towards the Tiger strong hold in Narakamulla and Tharavikulam. The rocky jungle terrain provides an advantageous situation for the Tiger cadres to launch a major assault on the Security Forces who had to cross the open terrain to reach these Tiger hideouts which have been used by them during the past two decades to train their cadres on jungle warfare.
The Air Force during the past few days provided air support for the advancing troops getting Tiger targets in Narakamulla and Tharavikulam to destroy gun positions.
The capture of Tiger bunkers covered by huge rocks in the jungle is not an easy task, if not for the tactical moves by the Security Forces.
However, troops engaged in the operation have confirmed there is no Tiger presence in Baron’s Cap area where the famous Thoppigala mountain is located. But, they have observed heavy minefields there too, though there was no Tiger presence.
Therefore, the Security Forces are expecting a major battle most probably in Narakamulla area where the Tiger outfit is preparing a group of Tiger cadres to launch a suicidal attack on the troops advancing towards the area.
But troops have received information that many cadres under the leadership of Ramesh had fled the area taking cover of the thick jungle terrain west of Vakarai and south west of Trincomalee in Anaganwilluwa and Trikonamadu.
The other favourable factor for the Security Forces is the sharp differences that had arisen among the remaining Tiger cadres with Jeyam from Wanni giving leadership to Wanni cadres while Nagesh from Batticaloa itself leading Batticaloa cadres.
According to information the group led by Jeyam has been instructed from the Wanni leadership to keep the territory at any cost.
Therefore, troops are expecting heavy resistance from the group led by Jeyam but it is most unlikely to get stiff resistance as their morale has gone down drastically over the last few months.
But the minefields and booby traps will play a decisive role to decide the fall of the last bastion of the Thoppigala to the Security Forces as many obstacles have been placed to slow down the advancement of troops.
However, troops led by 2 Commando, and by 6,7 and 8 battalions of the Gemunu Watch with the support of the engineering troops and artillery and mortar have already encountered the remaining Tiger cadres and thereby completed their task in the East.
Army Commander Lt. General Sarath Fonseka who visited the Maha Oya Commando Brigade on Wednesday instructed the field commanders to achieve the task while ensuring minimum casualties among troops.
The Security Forces strictly maintained the policy of zero civilian casualties and minimum casualties to own troops with the triggering of the Mavil Aru battle in July 28, last year after the LTTE closed the sluice gates of Mavil Aru anicut depriving water for more than 30,000 people south of Trincomalee.
The cutting off of water to the civilian population prompted the Security Forces to take control of the area to ensure that civilians are provided with their basic human needs.
Since then the Security Forces carried out all the operations to end Tiger threats to the civilian population. The Security Forces silently engaged in these missions to flush out Tiger threats mostly from the areas they had occupied after the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement in 2002.
The Tiger outfit slowly moved into these strategic locations like Sampur, Eethalampattu which were abandoned by the Security Forces during the late 1990’s to reinforce the battlefronts in the North, declaring them as Tiger held areas in the Ceasefire Agreement.
The Security Forces had to move step by step, to remove all these Tiger threats from the East starting from Mavil Aru from which the LTTE triggered off their fall in the East. As these battles were fought as defensive moves to flush out Tiger threats, no catchy titles were given for these operations.
Therefore, the common masses were not aware of the efforts taken by the Security Forces as they usually heard about military operations by their titles.
So far the Security Forces have conducted nine operations in the East including the Thoppigala operation to take full control over the Eastern province.
Mavil Aru Mavil Aru Battle fought from July 28 to October 13 in 2006, Sampur battle fought from August 27 to September 31, 2006, the operation conducted to take control of Gangai, Manirasakulam in the West of Muttur from October 1 to 10 in 2006 were the major battles fought in Trincomalee.
The Vakarai Kathirveli operation conducted from October 30, 2006 to January 07, 2007, operation conducted in February 2007 to take control of Kaddawan area in Trincomalee North and the operation conducted from February 21 to March 08, 2007 to take control over Peraru jungle area in Trincomalee North and Kumbruppiddi were also among these operations which did not have any attractive titles.
Finally troops conducted an operation from February 24 to April 12 to take control over the areas in the west of Batticaloa including the Chenkaladi - Maha Oya road and they are now engaged in the final battle in the East in Thoppigala.
Apart from this Police Special Task Force also carried out the operation to clear Tiger threats from the Kanchikudichchuaru jungles.
Though some politically motivated and parties with vested interests saw this as an easy walk for the Security Forces it was not such an easy task as they see things from the outside.
They had to confront Tiger cadres equipped with state-of-the-art weapon systems like artillery and Multi Barrel Rocket Launchers, which were never seen in the Eastern battles in the past.
The number of artillery guns recovered from Vakarai, Kathirveli areas give a clear picture as to how they were equipped with modern weapons and ammunitions to face the Security Forces.
The Security Forces engaged in search operations even after the resettlement of civilians in Vakarai have unearthed huge stocks arms and ammunition left behind by the fleeing Tiger cadres.
The number of weapons recovered from the area exceeds the number of Tiger cadres believed to have been present in Vakarai and Kathirveli.
If not for the humanitarian mission by the Security Forces to liberate the civilian population the entire civilian population would have been militarised by the LTTE.
The troops are now facing a battle with a fully equipped Tiger outfit, unlike the Tiger outfit in the 1990’s.
If the Security Forces engaged in these battles following the rules set by the previous battles fought in the country, they would have, by now, seen a tragic end to their battles in the East.
They learnt lessons from each and every battle fought in the East. At the initial stage of the Mavil Aru battle there were many casualties among troops but troops later changed their strategy to maintain a minimum casualty rate.
Even in the Vakarai battle in which Security Forces learnt many lessons in their effort to capture Vakarai, entering Tiger territory through their FDLs in Kajuwatta as many casualties were reported among the troops engaged in the mission.
The Security Forces later followed surprise moves to capture Tiger territory making unexpected moves and attacking them from the rear of their defences. But the Security Forces had to be extra vigilant once they followed this method.
They followed the same strategy in the follow up battles in Batticaloa West too.
If not for these new strategies there would have been many setbacks and debacles in the nature of Mullaitivu,
Therefore, any criticism against the Security Forces on having a heavy casualty rate in the East or in the Wanni battlefronts is a criticism made without any study of the facts as they have maintained the lowest casualty rates. It is a criticism forgetting the major debacles like Pooneryn, Mullaitivu and Elephant Pass in which thousands of troops perished in one night.
The small team operations conducted by the Security Forces to gain control of the strategic locations in the East also helped the Security Forces to maintain a low casualty rate and to inflict heavy casualties on the Tiger cadres.
But it is not an easy task for the Security Forces to engage in these operations as they could be vulnerable to Tiger attack at any moment.
But tactically they are in more advantageous position to identify Tiger locations correctly and give directions to take targets by artillery and mortar.
The risk of losing a larger number of troops in a single battle was effectively lessened by following the practice of small teams operations throughout the battles they faced in the Eastern theatre.
The adoption of this strategy minimised the risk of losing vast territories to the Tiger outfit in the face of a major offensive to capture cleared areas by the LTTE.
Through a readjustment of the temporarily laid defences the Security Forces effectively faced the challenges posed by the Tiger outfit. Through the adoption of these strategies in the Eastern battles the Security Forces have been able to take control of over 2296 square kilometres.
This includes 255 Sq Km in Mavil Aru and Sampur, 126 Sq in West of Muttur, 517 SQ Km in Vakarai and Kathirveli, 197 Sq in Kaddawan, 56 Sq Km in Peraru, 395 Sq Km in Kumburupiddi and 750 Sq Km in West of Batticaloa.
The Security Forces have achieved all this within one year liberating nearly 200,000 civilians from Tiger threats, maintaining a zero casualty rate among the civilians entrapped in the conflict affected areas and killing over 1,300 Tiger cadres in battles in the East including the battle in Thoppigala.
These victories have been recorded keeping the casualty rate of the Security Forces at a minimum level. Therefore, the biggest achievements recorded by the Security Forces, effectively taking control over the Eastern province cannot be undermined as they have achieved all these facing the maximum threat posed by the Tiger outfit.
2 Commando Regiment approaches Beiruit camp : Thoppigala
Sri Lanka army's commando units engaged in the Thoppigala offensive braved their way through rocky terrain, land mines, death traps and rough weather to reach the boundaries of LTTE's Beiruit camp. Beiruit complex is the last LTTE stronghold in the eastern province. 2nd Commando Regiment commanded by Major Uditha Bandara, is now laying the siege to Beiruit complex. 6th, 7th and 8th Gemunu regiments have also entered the battlefield to provide fire support in what is expected to be a fierce final battle.
Offensive to capture Thoppigala started when Army's Special Forces units penetrated LTTE defense lines on February 24th. Although the offensive met almost no LTTE resistance in early days, it has now come under heavy LTTE counterattacks. LTTE offered fierce resistance when troops attempted to capture the final LTTE defense line (near Narakamulla east) on the 19th. The FDL was fortified with 6 bunkers and 3 minor camps. Even after a heavy barrage of artillery and tank fire at the FDL, LTTE had not vacated their positions. The LTTE was taken by surprise by army's next move. Nearly 50 soldiers of the Commando regiment stormed into LTTE bunkers and opened fire on defending terrorists. In a few seconds, the entire situation of the battle changed. LTTE cadres who initially had the upper hand of the battle were now trapped inside their own bunker line. This devastating commando raid left 30 tigers dead. 3 tiger cadres had committed suicide during the battle. In contrast to heavy LTTE casualties, only 4 commando units received injuries.
Initially, a tank offensive was planned to capture remaining tiger territory. This was called off later to avoid damages as LTTE used their MBRLs to fire at incoming troops. LTTE have used 2 6-barreled MBRLs, 4 120mm Mortars and numerous 81mm mortars as heavy weapons during the offensive.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Karuna will be disarmed after the civil administration restored in East, says Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva
Karuna will be disarmed after the civil administration restored in East, says Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva
(LeN- 2007 July 07, 3.15 pm)
The Minister of Health and Nutrition Nimal Siripala de Silva says that all the armed groups roaming in the Eastern Province will be disarmed after the civil administration is restored in the Eastern Province.
The Minister said so addressing a special media briefing of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, Colombo.
The Minister said that the operations of the government military to liberate the Eastern Province from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) had now reached the final leg and a massive programme to resettle the Sinahala. Tamil and Muslim people in the liberated areas had started. He further said that the government would develop the necessary infrastructure and a civil administration would be granted to the Eastern Province that was under the rule of gun culture.
The Minister also said that steps are being taken to hold the local government elections in the Eastern Province and the SLFP would contest the elections.
The Minister said that the government would have to disarm Karuna Group or the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) after the civil administration restored and only the Police, armed forces and the license holders would be able to handle weapons thereafter.
Minister de Silva said that the United Kingdom informed their citizens not to travel to Sri Lanka and now Australia had done the same to UK. He said that the international community recognizes the real nature of the terrorism only when the terrorists attack them.
The Minister said that the international community was silent on terrorism and talked only about human rights whilst Sri Lanka was suffering from terrorism for two decades. He said that he believed this is the time for them to look at the terrorism from a novel point of view.
Nimal Siripala de Silva further says that the Leader of Opposition Ranil Wickramasinghe who makes statements in foreign countries about the human rights violations of the country, has become the spokesman of the LTTE either knowingly or unknowingly. He said that the government had appointed several commissions to investigate the so-called human rights violations and a number of persons had been taken into custody pertaining to abductions and extortions, few bona fide steps of the government that could satisfy the international community.
The Minister said that the government had proved that it would not approve the killings, abductions and disappearances not by words but by deeds.
De Silva said that the jump of Mangala and Sripathi to the United National Party lap did not make any split in the SLFP ranks and there were no more SLFP MPs of their kind.
Expressing his views on the peace talks, the Minister said that the government was ready for negotiations at any time.
"The Tiger organization always escape from the negotiation table. We cannot hold false peace talks. The government is ready for direct talks on power devolution," the Minister said.
The Minister said so addressing a special media briefing of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, Colombo.
The Minister said that the operations of the government military to liberate the Eastern Province from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) had now reached the final leg and a massive programme to resettle the Sinahala. Tamil and Muslim people in the liberated areas had started. He further said that the government would develop the necessary infrastructure and a civil administration would be granted to the Eastern Province that was under the rule of gun culture.
The Minister also said that steps are being taken to hold the local government elections in the Eastern Province and the SLFP would contest the elections.
The Minister said that the government would have to disarm Karuna Group or the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) after the civil administration restored and only the Police, armed forces and the license holders would be able to handle weapons thereafter.
Minister de Silva said that the United Kingdom informed their citizens not to travel to Sri Lanka and now Australia had done the same to UK. He said that the international community recognizes the real nature of the terrorism only when the terrorists attack them.
The Minister said that the international community was silent on terrorism and talked only about human rights whilst Sri Lanka was suffering from terrorism for two decades. He said that he believed this is the time for them to look at the terrorism from a novel point of view.
Nimal Siripala de Silva further says that the Leader of Opposition Ranil Wickramasinghe who makes statements in foreign countries about the human rights violations of the country, has become the spokesman of the LTTE either knowingly or unknowingly. He said that the government had appointed several commissions to investigate the so-called human rights violations and a number of persons had been taken into custody pertaining to abductions and extortions, few bona fide steps of the government that could satisfy the international community.
The Minister said that the government had proved that it would not approve the killings, abductions and disappearances not by words but by deeds.
De Silva said that the jump of Mangala and Sripathi to the United National Party lap did not make any split in the SLFP ranks and there were no more SLFP MPs of their kind.
Expressing his views on the peace talks, the Minister said that the government was ready for negotiations at any time.
"The Tiger organization always escape from the negotiation table. We cannot hold false peace talks. The government is ready for direct talks on power devolution," the Minister said.
Karuna engaged in a new power struggle to grab the east from EPDP
Sat, 2007-07-07 14:13 Colombo, 07 July, (Asiantribune.com):
Karuna Group has formally announced the ban of Eelam People Democratic Party (EPDP) led by Minister Douglas Devananda through pamphlets distributed widely in the Batticoloa in the eastern province.. This group has also warned of severe consequence for
The pamphlets are issued in the name of the “Force of the Rising Sun”. The following is a translation of the pamphlet:
Our Kith and Kin of East
After redeeming our soil and the people from the Vanni Tigers, our people are now returning to normal life. But those organizations under the north’s hegemony, which reject normalcy, are systematically attacking our people and the members of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal, with the view to create fear in the east. On 04. 07. 2007 they have forced the cadres of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal to get down from the bus they were traveling and not only humiliated them but also attacked them. When those organizations cadres went for talks they have fired bullets and also killed one of them. We are not only condemning the organization called EPDP which was involved in such barbarous acts but we are also banning them completely in the Eastern province.
Our kith and kin living in the East, please stop all the dealings with this organization and stop all contacts with them. Also we request those youths of the East who are with them to kindly leave them and go abroad or get involved in social work. Also those parents of those youths, who are in that organization, withdraw your children from that organization and don’t be a party to treachery but try to rehabilitate them for a new future. We will not hesitate to take strong actions against those who violate this edict. Therefore our kith and kin of the East we will ensure that incidents of this nature never repeats itself and we resolve to take necessary steps to expel those cliques ruling these organizations..anyone violating the ban or associating with EPDP in the future.
Thanks
Force of the Rising Sun
Eastern Province
This is a threat directed at Minister Douglas Devananda and EPDP. They are an integral part of the People’s Alliance Government led by President Mahinda Rajapakse. Sri Lanka Government has liberated the East from the control of the Tamil Tigers. But it appears that Karuna Group has emerged to grab the political gap left vacant by the Tigers, who had fled from the east. Besides, this act of challenging a Minister in the government is seen as a threat to the government’s authority over the liberated east.
Political observers note that Karuna is not an elected representative. Nor is he a part of the government. He was involved in killing hundreds of Sri Lankan Security forces. He was alleged to have killed, in agreement with Prabhkaran, 600 policemen who surrendered on the word given by Anton Balasingham , the negotiator with the Premadasa government, that they would be safe.
When he broke away from Prabhkaran, accusing the Jaffna-Tamil leaders dominating the LTTE of discriminating against the eastern Tamils, he vowed to join the democratic mainstream. But after the liberation of the east by the Security Forces he has resumed the old terror tactics that he played under the command of Prabhakaran.
Karuna fled the country when the Tamil Tigers attacked him on 10 April 2004. He took a long route through Nepal and ended up in Mysore.
He returned back when the Government began its military campaign and made east a safer place.
His tactic seems to be to make use this opportunity to ban a politic party which is a constituent member of the Government led by President Mahinda Rajapakse.
It is still unclear who delegated to Karuna to take this course of action. International community has warned that Karuna group should be disbanded.
It is still unclear who gave extra-parliamentary authority for Karuna to impose tax and tariffs to people in East and announce the imposition of the ban on a registered political Party.
What is clear is that rival Tamil parties are now engaged in battle to occupy the vacant position held by the Tamil Tigers earlier.
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