LTTE to see a bitter end in the Eastern battle

Troops brave desperate attacks of the LTTE to wrest Thoppigala

The battle in Thoppigala took a new turn on Friday with the report of highest number of deaths on a single day after the commencement of the Thoppigala operation in June this year. The Tiger outfit getting severe beatings both by the ground troops and by the Air Force fired towards the advancing troops in North of Narakamulla on Friday around noon.

The Tiger cadres remaining in Narakamulla and Taravi Tiger camp complexes directed three rounds of Multi Barrel Rocket Launchers from West of Barons Cap killing two Army officers and four soldiers of the Armoured Corps including the Acting Commanding Officer Major Ranatunga.

Another Army officer in the rank of Captain Corp and four soldiers from the Sri Lanka Armoured Corp sacrificed their lives as one of the three rounds of MBRL fire hit them in the North of Narakamulla.

The signal given by the LTTE was that they were preparing for the final battle in Thoppigala and were ready to give a stiff resistance to the advancing troops. But the Tiger cadres are now abandoning their bases hidden inside thick jungles and rock caves as troops step by step are sealing off the Narakamulla and Taravi Tiger camp complex entrapping them into a limited area.

Fierce battle expected

The Commando troops in West of Narakamulla hit a tractor transporting Tiger cadres on Friday afternoon killing at least 10 Tiger cadres.

Therefore, fierce battle can be expected in the coming few days as Tiger outfit is ready for do or die battle with the advancing troops making suicide missions as their final option. As repeatedly highlighted by this column earlier, the heavy mine fields and booby traps set by the fleeing Tiger cadres has made the troops advance slowly, delaying them from giving a direct beating to the LTTE cadres remaining in the jungle patches.

So far nearly six soldiers lost their limbs due to anti personnel mines laid in the area.

According to the claims of the LTTE Military Spokesman Rasaiah Ilanthirayan they have recast their military plans in the East and their withdrawal from the East was tactical. The Tiger outfit made same type of claim when their territories in Sampur and Vakarai were surprisingly taken under the control of the Security Forces.

In a sense they would have withdrawn from the area with the intention of returning to these areas as they had buried large hauls of weapons and ammunition when they were fleeing from these areas with the intention of using them after returning to these areas mingling with the civilians.

But all these strategies of the LTTE has been foiled by the Security Forces after recovering major arsenals of the LTTE with large hauls of arms and ammunition and even the high calibre weapons like 152 mm artillery guns which were found from Vakarai area.

However, the Tiger outfit has the biggest advantage of the Thoppigala battle as they are in defensive move taking the cover of the rock caves and the thick jungles to face the advancing troops. But troops have changed their strategies and tactics according to the territory to minimize the number of casualties and evading the possibilities of entrapping by the LTTE.

The advancing troops to the Thoppigala (Baron's Cap) area recovered a large stock of weapons abandoned by fleeing LTTE terrorists. Nine mortar bombs (60 mm), 39 anti personnel (AP) mines, 03 claymore mines each weighing 5 kg, 03 Rocket Propeller Grenades (RPG) and 03 heavy mortar bombs (120 mm) were among the recovered items.

This was in addition to the large haul of medicine and food items they had left behind in their camps.

The Engineering troops are playing key role removing mine fields to minimise the number of casualties among the troops while Air Force was called on to give close support to destroy many Tiger camps and gun positions in support of the advancing troops.

Jets pound positions

Within this week alone the fighter jets of the Sri Lanka Air Force pounded more than ten Tiger positions in Thoppigala jungle between the Baron's cap and Taravi inflicting heavy damages to Tiger cadres.

The difficulty of this battle was highlighted by the Government Defence Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella saying that even the well equipped Indian Peace Keeping Force after inducting more than 20,000 troops could not take control of Thoppigala after losing 2,600 of their men in the battle to wrest Thoppigala.

The former area commander of the IPKF Major General Ashok Mehta has told Hindustan Times of India despite this they conducted operations in the Thoppigala jungles, they made no attempt to occupy the area since it had no, strategic significance.

"Thoppigala was a vast jungle area which did not lie on any major line of communication. It was basically a hide out for the LTTE. It had hospitals, prisons and training camps. I have personally led operations to destroy these facilities. But we always came back to base, as there was no need to occupy the area. There was nothing to occupy!" Gen. Mehta, who led Indian troops in the Eastern districts of Batticaloa and Amparai, has told Hindustan Times.

For the IPKF the area would not have been strategic location since they were assigned on short term assignment in Sri Lanka to battle the LTTE. But for Sri Lanka which has been experiencing the consequences of ruthless terrorism for three decades, Thoppigala is a location with strategic significance.

With the escalation of violence by the LTTE in early 1980's the jungle terrains in the Eastern province has become breeding grounds for terrorism and LTTE make use of these jungle terrains to destabilize the civilian life in the Eastern province and to antagonise the three communities peacefully living in the Eastern province.

If not for these jungle terrains in the Eastern province which cannot be monitored even from the air due to the foliage that cover the land mass for the LTTE to have their major training bases, the Tiger outfit would not have been strengthened even to this position.

Though, Security Forces cannot hold the area for ever they must ensure that these jungle terrains are not been used by the terror groups to achieve their goals and spread terrorism throughout the country, by visiting these jungle terrains frequently thereby preventing the LTTE to establish their camps again in these jungles including the Kanchikudichuaru jungle in the Amapara district.

Such move will also help the Government at a time it is planning to launch a massive development drive in the Eastern province soon after the completion of Thoppigala battle marking the liberation of the entire Eastern: province from the clutches of the Tiger outfit exactly in a year long battles with the LTTE at different stages.

As highlighted in this column earlier the LTTE is losing the concept of Tamil Eelam which they were going to establish making Trincomalee as the capital of the Tamil Eelam.

The LTTE will be beaten not only by military means but also economically as they are losing a huge revenue source similar to that of the revenue collected from the Tamil Diaspora living in Europe, according to experts.

Revenue loss to Tigers

Major splits in the LTTE were created due to massive sum of money that poured into tiger coffers from the Eastern province by means of extortion collected from fishermen, illicit timber rackets, and cannabis cultivations and through agricultural products.

The importance of this land to the LTTE can be highlighted with the concerted efforts made by the LTTE keeping control of this land diverting the attention of the Security Forces towards many aspects.

As they are definite of their defeat in Thoppigala the LTTE is basically making attempts to cover up the shame of their defeat in the Eastern theatre by engaging in various terror tactics to get the upper hand of the situation.

As highlighted in the last week column the Navy intelligence could detect a 1012 Kg of C4 explosive laden freezer truck from Trincomalee meant to be sent to Colombo to create major mayhem targeting civilians.

Apart from that in Manner too the Navy detected nearly 100 Kg of C4 explosives averting major disasters. The detection of nine communication equipment in Gunasinghepura, Pettah will also reveal a major part of a conspiracy by the LTTE to raid Colombo.

The detection of these explosives were made days prior to the Tiger outfit celebrating the 20th anniversary of the first suicide blast carried out by the LTTE targeting troops engaged in 'Operation Liberation' on July 05, 1987 at Nelliadi Central College, Jaffna.

However, the Tiger outfit this year confined their Black Tiger Day celebrations to Kilinochchi in fear of the air raids targeting Tiger locations.

However, the definite reason is that they cannot come out with those type ceremonies as they no longer entertain the confidence of the Tamil community even in Kilinochchi.

The other reason is that the world will no longer tolerate a terror organization that professed suicide terrorism to terror groups operating all over the world as those nations are affected by suicide terrorism.

Apart from these plans by the LTTE to have carnage in Colombo, they also try to infiltrate into cleared areas through the FDLs in West of Omanthai The troops conducting clearing operations ahead of the Wanni Forward Defence Line (FDL) on Thursday overpowered a terror attack at Periyathampanai killing at least ten LTTE cadres.

Fierce battle erupted when the terrorists had attempted to launch a surprise attack at the troops. Two army soldiers too died in the battle and eight others suffered injuries. The injured were rushed to the General Hospital, Anuradhapura.

Troops were able to push their defence line further into the uncleared areas as the LTTE terrorists had taken to their heels in the face of Army retaliation. The Security Forces have also observed a number of LTTE cadres infiltrated Jaffna peninsula to destabilize the normal life style in the peninsula and to obstruct the movements of the Security Forces by detonating claymore mines targeting the troops.

This has become common phenomenon in Vavuniya too as number of claymore mines blasts were carried out by the LTTE targeting troops.

Therefore, the commitment and dedication of the Security Forces and the Police to fight against terrorism in Sri Lankan soil should be greatly appreciated as such incidents would have foiled all the achievements by the Security Forces.

The Government's effort to fight terrorism in Sri Lankan soil with the assistance of the international community to suppress terrorism financing by the global community, is highlighted in the context of the intense efforts made by the UK Government to eradicate terrorism in the aftermath of the two suicide bomb explosions that rocked the UK recently.

President expresses solidarity

President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a letter to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown expressed solidarity regarding the current terrorist threat in Britain.

President Rajapaksa in his letter to Brown said: "I write to express my solidarity with you, your Government and the people of Britain at this critical time when your country faces an unprecedented threat of terrorism.

"I share your determination and commitment not to yield to this sustained threat from those who believe in the use of terror to achieve their ends; inflicting maximum damage on civilians, their day-to-day lives, and causing great destruction to life and property.

Sri Lanka being a country gravely affected by the scourge of terrorism for more than two decades, we understand well how the manipulators of terror seek to destroy the harmonious relations among communities and the democratic traditions of our societies.

With our own commitment to peace and democracy, and determination not to kneel before terrorism, we shall be extremely vigilant about any terrorist activities planned or attempted in Sri Lanka against Britain and the British people", the President stressed in his letter to the Britain Prime Minister.

It is the fervent hope Sri Lanka, that the international community would understand the seriousness and the complexity involved in the task undertaken by the Security Forces and the Police in their fight against terrorism as the terror outfit has no limits to their terror operations.