Did Karuna faction carry out first suicide attack?

War and Peace The Defence Diary by Ranga Jayasuriya

Last Friday would go down in the annals of history as a milestone in the internecine war between the mainstream Tigers and the breakaway Karuna faction. Two suspected Karuna loyalists blew themselves up in an explosive laden trishaw at the LTTE roadblock at the entry-exit point in Vavunathivu in the country's restive East.

Initial reports of the incident which occurred at 12.10 p.m. on Friday recorded twin suicide blasts. It said two Karuna loyalists targeting LTTE commander Banu blew themselves up when they were subjected to a security check at the LTTE roadblock at the entrance to the Tiger territory.

Later, an anti-LTTE Tamil political activist, in Batticaloa told the Sunday Observer that a threewheeler had been blown up, targeting the LTTE roadblock. It is not immediately clear whether the trishaw driver was a suicide cadre of the Karuna faction or the explosives inside the trishaw detonated by accident. According to the anti-LTTE activist, the bodies of four or five LTTE cadres manning the roadblock were found at the scene of the blast. Soon after the blast and after informing its main base of the blast, all LTTE communication sets went silent.

However, the Karuna faction did not take responsibility for the attack. Karuna's official website- thamilalai.com- ran a news story that the LTTE roadblock in Vavunathivu had been attacked by unidentified persons killing six LTTE cadres. Had the Karuna loyalists executed a suicide mission, it would have been their first attack against the mainstream Tigers.

Renegade rebels

However, the target of the mission, a roadblock, raises doubts of the rationale of the mission, though there is always a possibility that the renegade rebels could have blown themselves up to avoid being caught. On the same day, the Karuna faction overran two mainstream Tiger camps in Mankerni and Kattaramurigu in Vakarai. The attack came as the LTTE has moved most of its cadres towards Mavilaru, Verugal where the security forces are now engaged in an operation to open the sluice gates of the Mavilaru anicut.

Only the logistical groups were left in the two LTTE camps when the renegade rebels attacked, leaving 26 LTTE cadres dead, according to the intercepted LTTE communications.

The Ceasefire Agreement, albeit its achievements has its share of mistakes and blunders. The CFA has its own grey areas, for instance, the truce monitors, identify the parity of the forces as vital for the continuance of the truce agreement. But, the very efforts to sustain the military parity could only lead to further militarisation of the conflict. The very notion of parity of the forces is exploited by the LTTE to strengthen its Forward Defence Lines and to conscript and train cadres, including a large number of children.

The demand by the sea Tigers for a separate sea Zone is an extension of this notion. The very first clause of the CFA, which prohibits either party from engaging in offensive operations means that the Tigers could continue with any kind of military build up.

The absence of political will to take decisive action to thwart the Tigers exploiting the Ceasefire Agreement which was very much evident during both the Wickremesinghe and Kumaratunga Administrations only gave a free run for the Tigers over the national and, of course, sub continental security.

National security

Whatever the mishaps of the Rajapaksa administration in the execution of the peace process, the most notable being the absence of a consensus in its major coalition partners over the nature of the political solution, the Rajapaksa administration is unique in its manifested degree of political will to safeguard national security. Its political will to act decisively when it is required was displayed this week, when it gave the green light to an unpaved LTTE airstrip now under construction.

The understanding of the government is that turning a blind eye to the military build up would only worsen the security situation.

Three Israeli built Kafir fighter jets of the Sri Lankan Airforce left the Katunayake AirBase on Thursday morning, about 10 a.m. The mission was to bomb an unpaved LTTE airstrip under construction in Pudikudirippu, Mullaitivu.

The pilots could see the LTTE cadres on the ground at work and some backo machines moving. Earlier, the arial pictures by the UnManned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) captured a large swath of the jungle cleared by the LTTE for a new airstrip in the jungles near Pudikudirippu, about 20 km to Mullaitivu. The pilots said they took the targets and backo machines and other building equipment were seen on fire, according to the pilots.

The government's Defence Affairs spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella later in a media statement said: "This morning the security forces conducted a limited air operation against this air facility. The operation was conducted to prevent the construction of this unauthorised air facility which poses a grave security threat not only to Sri Lanka but also to the entire region."

The LTTE strategy to construct another airstrip in close proximity to the existing Iranamadu runway can be multifaceted. The immediate objective, however is an image booster to its military machine. The Iranamadu airstrip was bombed a few months ago by the AirForce.

Aerial pictures taken immediately after the bombing of the Iranamadu runway captured four huge craters in the middle of the 1.4 km long airstrip, meaning it needed immediate repairs.

By building a second airstrip, the LTTE attempts to reaffirm the role of its airwing which is still in its infancy. The image as an owner of infrastructure of air transport could enhance the validity of LTTE argument that it runs a semi state with in the Sri Lankan State. The airstrip is symbolic, than a military value for the LTTE at present.

But military officials have expressed concern of the LTTE using its light aircraft for the transport of LTTE leaders within Tiger territory. The LTTE is believed to be in possession of several one - seater micro light aircraft which can be used for suicide missions on vital military or economic targets.

Air Defence system and modern 3 dimension radar system were set up in Vavuniya with the help of the Indian government following reports that the LTTE was in possession of light aircraft and the threat of a possible airborne suicide attack.

However, there were reports last week that an unidentified aircraft had been noticed in the government controlled area near Anuradhapura. A few weeks ago, there were reports of troops in Welioya sighting an unidentified seaplane landing and taking off from Nayaru lagoon in the uncleared area. The Air Force which sent a reconnaissance craft to the area later dismissed the report. Last week police alerted the Air Force that locals have sighted an unidentified airplane. However, the Airforce could neither confirm nor reject the claim.

LTTE quest for air power

Throughout the ethnic conflict, the LTTE was aware of the disadvantage it had due to the absence of air power. Prabhakaran in the late nineties appointed Vaithilingam Sornalingam alias "Colonel" Shankar, a Canadian educated aeronautical engineer as the head of the Air Tigers and entrusted him to build the LTTE air wing. But, before long, a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol unit of the army killed him, blowing up his vehicle in Oddusudan, Mullaitivu on September 26, 2001.

The LTTE also constructed an airstrip in the same place in Iranamadu earlier and the Airforce bombed it in 1998.