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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