Fighting flares up in Thoppigala

Tigers fight the last major battle in the East to hold on Beirut Base, once thought to be impregnable :

Defence Diary by Ranga Jayasuriya

Thoppigala, home to the Tigers' Beirut Base, located underneath a thick Jungle canopy was once considered impregnable. Throughout the ethnic insurgency, the Tigers camped in jungle sanctuary of the East.

Even during the UNP regime of early 90s which prioritised on neutralising the Tiger threat in the East over that of in the North, Thoppigala jungles were a lesser charted waters to the security forces.

The Tigers who lost the grip in the East, in the face of well planned counter insurgency operations conducted under the late Maj General Luckey Algama retreated to the jungles, which due to geographical constraints made almost impregnable for the security forces.

However, events, which took place behind the curtain of peace deliberations, were to redraft the security situation in the East. Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna, the Eastern Tiger commander fell out with the Tiger chieftain Velupillai Prabhakaran and went underground having disbanded the 5,000-6,000 strong Eastern Tiger formation.

Going by the recent developments beginning from the capture of Sampur, then the areas west of Muttur - Rarkuli, Manirasakulam etc - and later the coastal strip of Vakarai, it is obvious that the present military strategy is, to a certain degree, akin to that of the Premadasa -Ranjan Wijeratne strategy in the early 90s, which prioritised on neutralising the Tiger threat in the East - and of course succeeded in it.

For the past several weeks, the writings were on the wall that the next phase of confrontation will be in the jungles of Thoppigala. On Thursday, fresh fighting flared up in the west of Batticaloa, ahead of the Black Bridge bordering uncleared areas.

Heavy shelling rained what army said identified LTTE positions deep inside jungles as civilian en masse fled the Tiger controlled areas to the Government administered area.

The Media Centre for National Security stated that over 4198 families consisting of 13,663 civilians had arrived from the uncleared areas of Kokkadicholai, Aiyithimala, Koduwamadu, Tharavikulam, Karadiyanaru, Illuppaddichenai and Kalawanchikudi into the Government administered areas in the East.

Pro-LTTE Tamilnet website quoted Batticaloa Parliamentarian S. Jayanandamoorthy as saying "Batticaloa is experiencing another tragic humanitarian crisis"..

Last leg of battle in the East

With the fresh flare up of violence, it was clear that the last leg of the battle in the East has begun.

The Tiger controlled pockets of terrain in the East, were identified by the security forces for operational purpose as:

* Four-Six Sector - which included the coastal strip of Vakarai, Kathiraveli and Verugal.

* Four - Eight Sector, which included the North of the Badulla-Chenkalady Road.

* Four-Nine sector, which included the Tiger held areas in Ampara, mainly in the jungles of Kanchikudichcharu.

In the face of the loss of its Four-Six sector, Tiger cadres moved into the jungles of Thoppigala and areas north of the Badulla-Chenkalady Road. Other than its jungle bases in Thoppigala, the Tigers hold in the Batticaloa district is confined to scarcely populated pockets North of the Badulla- Chenkalady Road, which is identified in military jargon as the Four-Eight sector of the Tigers.

The Tigers lost its Four-Six sector and have almost lost its Four-Nine Sector as the STF overran over 20 bases, abandoned by the Tigers, who moved northwards - towards the jungles of Thoppigala in order to dodge the advancing police commandos.

According to Intelligence reports, the concentration of LTTE cadres in the area, is estimated at 1,000 to 1,500. There are also reports that the Tigers are in possession of two Multi Barrel Rocket Launchers, positioned in the jungles of Thoppigala.

These MBRL are believed to be of an old variety, which could fire 12-16 rockets simultaneously.

No intelligence reports are available of the exact variety of the MBRL in the possession of the LTTE, but certain reports suggest they could be similar to Katyusha Rocket launchers, a primitive multiple rocket launching system frequently deployed by the Hisbulla guerrillas against Israeli settlers.

The Tigers had deployed the guns on several occasions in the recent months, however, there is a conspicuous silence in the past couple of days as the troops stepped up military action.

However, set against the superior fire power and the counter battery fire of the security forces, the threat these two guns could pose is almost insignificant, quipped a senior Military official.

Arty-mortars

The LTTE is also reported to have several 120 mm heavy mortars, generally described as arty-mortars, which are capable of inflicting damage equivalent to an artillery shell. However, there are no reports of the LTTE possessing artillery guns.

As fresh fighting flared up this week, the Tigers fired mortars from the direction of Iththamali, Unnachchai and Illuppadichchanai.

During the battle of Vakarai, an estimated 200 LTTE cadres were believed to have sneaked to the jungles of Thoppigala. This included Nagesh, the senior Tiger leader who commanded fighters in Vakarai, in the absence of Trincomalee Tiger commander Soornam.

According to intelligence reports, Nagesh was injured in an army ambush in uncleared areas ahead of Black Bridge in the early hours of Thursday. One soldier was killed and one missing in action during the fresh fighting during Thursday and Friday.

The army said ten LTTE cadres were killed and 17 injured in fighting. Quoting unnamed civilian sources, the Media Centre for National Security reported that the Tigers had employed civilians to attend to treatment of injured LTTE cadres and burial of the dead.

As fighting raged Thursday, four LTTE cadres surrendered to the security forces. MCNS reported that the Tiger cadres were deployed in the Mammunai area to prevent an exodus of civilian through the Black Bridge into the Government administered areas in Chenkalady.

Intercepted Tiger communications and intelligence reports indicate that the Tigers were withdrawing towards Thoppigala jungles and Tharavikulam.

According to military sources, forces have been deployed along Welikanda, Punani, Meeyankulam, Valachchenai, Kumburumullai, Sittandy, Chenkalady and Batticaloa to cut off exit routes of the Tigers who have been besieged in the Thoppigala jungles and its four eight sector.

The nature of the implementation of the military operation in Sampur, which opened a route for the Tigers to retreat. That enabled the Tigers to flee downward, towards Ichchalampattu and later towards Verugal and Vakarai.

Four-six sector

When the troops decided to take over the "Four-Six sector" they were mindful of the loopholes of the previous mission and decided on a gradual strangulation of the Tiger hold and to cut off the escape routes of the LTTE.

Understandably, the objective was to destroy the LTTE's manpower forever, thereby neutralising its ability to regroup and conduct future operations in the East. The objective was accomplished to a greater detail as evident in the large cache of arms left by the LTTE.

As a senior military official described, the ongoing military operation would be akin to those in Sampur and Vakarai, where troops excelled in unique form of jungle warfare orchestrated by small groups of specialised infantry commandos.

"This is an operation where there is no front, no large movement of troops or no haste in accomplishment of the target," he said referring to Vakarai, where troops through small group operations gradually strangulated the Tigers, till the one last decisive blow.

Meanwhile, the Special Task Force opened a third front in the East, conducting a limited military offensive against the LTTE positions in Pillimalai in an operation to clear Mahaoya-Ampara road.

Eight STF personnel were killed and 12 injured in the ensuing confrontation. The Tiger camp was destroyed, however, no information was available on the LTTE casualties.

This included four bodies of the STF personnel which were in the hands of the LTTE.

The bodies were expected to be handed over to the security forces yesterday. STF commandos came across an unexpected resistance by the Tigers who fought a two-hour fierce battle before fleeing.

The Army overran four LTTE camps North of Trincomalee, used as a transit base by the LTTE cadres. There were about 150-200 LTTE cadres believed to be in the area, who however offered little resistance.

As fresh fighting flares up in Thoppigala, it is almost likely to be the last big battle Tigers would fight in the East.

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