Eastern theatre marks LTTE's tenth debacle in a row

The Tiger outfit accepted their 10th defeat in a row in the Eastern theatre and with the fall of Thoppigala, the last bastion in the East, before the security forces to mark the first anniversary of the Eastern battle to flush out the LTTE from the Eastern province.

LTTE Political Wing Leader S. P. Thamilselvan, this time accepted their defeat in the East in an interview with Reuters International News Agency on Thursday. This time he did not have any room to explain their defeat as a 'tactical withdrawal' as he used to explain their earlier defeats in the East. This time they did not withdraw, but fled from their jungle hide-outs as the security forces led by Commando troops took the advantage of the ground in their favour with the capture of three rocks tactically important to keep control over Thoppigala jungles. Therefore, S. P. Thamilselvan had to choose his words to explain their future strategies in the face of their defeat in the East, but again prove to the world that they were not willing to give up terrorism to achieve their goals.

He emphasised that the Tiger outfit continue terror attacks targeting economic nerve centres and other strategically important security installations to achieve their goals.

But, it was not an unusual thing for the LTTE to make such statements, since it was the usual pattern they followed during the past three decades.

Army prove their point

With the victory achieved in Thoppigala the troops of the Sri Lanka Army proved yet again that they are the best conventional Army in the world to fight against a guerrilla outfit. Through this victory, they not only put an end to the acts of the LTTE in the past but also proved that LTTE no longer can face them in any jungle warfare.

The final phase of battle to capture Thoppigala is a classic example to prove the capabilities of the Army specially to engage in jungle war fare. They turned the ground which was extremely in favour of the enemy to ground favourable to them with their moves to capture Tiger territory surprising the enemy. As explained in earlier Sitreps the territory in the Thoppigala jungle which stretch over 800 square kilometres in land is full of rocks, hill tops and open spaces. It is heartening to note how the troops were able to defeat the LTTE in Thoppigala jungles.

It is not a thick jungle as imagined by many people who had not even got a glimpse of this jungle in their life time. Thoppigala jungle is full of bushes and does not have any environment for a person to move within this jungle during day time.

The troops engaged in this operation too had to undergo the same difficulties, that has to be faced by any ordinary person when crossing this jungle terrain. But, LTTE placed additional burden on the troops laying land mines and booby traps to hinder their efforts.

2 & 3 Commando troops who led the troops engaged in this battle overcame all these barriers to reach Baron's Cap on July 11 early morning to complete their mission far ahead of the expected time period.

Though many people were skeptical about the task before the security forces, they effectively achieved their target surprising the whole country on July 11.

The 2 Commando and 3 Commando Regiment operating under the command of Major Uditha Bandara and Commando Brigade Commander Brigadier Chagiya Gallage realised the fact that the real battle they have to face in Thoppigala will be in Narakamulla and Tharavikulam.

By the beginning of this month troops engaged in this mission had entered to a decisive phase of their battle which was fought since April 25 this year. By this time, the troops have reached towards Narakamulla and Tharavikulam. The major obstacle before them were the huge rocks which gave the benefit of the location in favour of the LTTE. Kotiyagala, Dambageliyadda and the highest rock 258 feet in height were the three main rocks identified by the troops as a major barrier to capture Thoppigala. The 2 commando and a 3 commando troops tactically moved from three directions to capture these strategic locations. One company moved from Thoduvilcholai to reach Kotiyagala crossing Lavini Aru while other two groups of 2 and 3 Command Regiments moving to capture the rock in Narakamulla South and the other company to capture Dambageliyedda through Meeyangolla canal.

Commando troops who moved from Thoduvilcholai area were able to capture Kotiyagala in the East of Narakamulla by June 17 with the other strategic locations in Dambageliyedda and Narakamulla South.

The 258 feet high rock in Narakamulla South provided a clear opportunity to observe the troops directly as there was a open space between Kotiyagala and this rock in Narakamulla South. The LTTE fired volumes of mortar towards the advancing troops observing the advancing troopsfrom the top of this rock.

However, the thick jungle patch in the East of this rock provided a cover for the LTTE to run their military complexes such as the Tora Bora camp complex.

But, 3 Commando troops tactically moved into this territory and destroyed all their bases flushing out Tiger cadres from the area. This enabled the troops to capture the huge rock in Narakamulla by July 06, and 07 compelling the Tiger cadres to move towards Barons' cap area leaving their bases in Narakamulla. The capture of this 258 feet high rock which is famously known as Tora Bora camp complex marked a turning point in Thoppigala battle as it helped the troops to ground situation in favour of them, on July 08.

With this development on July 08 3 commando troops moved towards Baron's cap area as Tigers moved towards this area with the loss of Narakamulla while Bravo Company of the 2 Commando Regiment moved to capture Tharavikulam camp complex. Alpha Company of the 3 Commando Regiment consolidated their positions along Meeyangolla canal.

By July 08 evening Tiger cadres withdrawn to Barons' Cap and Vadamunai as they were encircled with the deployment of Gemunu Watch troops and 10 Gemunu Regiment of troops from the West of Narakamulla and from North of Baron's Cap in addition to the troops of the 6, 7 and 8 Gemunu Watch, battalions and by the 1 Sinha Regiment troops who gave a strong backing to the Commando troops holding the areas captured by them and giving cover to them by creating a defence line from the behind.

The troops at the Special Forces Training School were also deployed from Maduru Oya side to detect the Tiger cadres fleeing the area.

With this strong position in their background the 3 commando Regiment moved towards Baron's Cap area to flush out the remaining Tiger cadres there braving the booby traps and Anti Personnel mines from the area. Troops of the 3 Commando Regiment led by Captain Bandara tried to climb the rock on July 10 evening but failed in their endeavour as it was unaccessible from that side of the rock. But they succeeded in their endeavour on July 10 and completed their heroic mission fluttering the National Flag and the Commando Brigade Flag on top of the Barons' cap declaring the victory of their months long mission in Thoppigala jungles.

Then troops further cleared Tiger pockets in Tharaniveddi a village located west of Tharavikulam to further strengthen the security in the villages in Batticaloa.

Minimum casualties

One of the points in this months long battle is that troops could capture this territory with minimum casualties to the security forces. According to security forces 9 officers and 18 other rankers were killed in this battle and nearly 80 soldiers were injured.

On the contrary, security Forces have confirmed that over 450 Tiger cadres have been killed during the entire operation that began on February 25 this year from Pulukunava. Out of them 50 bodies have been handed over to the LTTE through the ICRC. Apart from this troops have confirmed that they have been able to see the bodies of over 200 during their battles with the LTTE in the jungle. Those bodies could not be brought to the cleared areas to be handed over to the ICRC.

But these achievements by the security forces, are now under immense suspicion of the opposition specially of the United National Party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe categorically states that Security Forces have gained control over an jungle area with no strategic importance. He argues that the area was taken under the Security Forces several times in the past too. But his claims become invalid when compared to the strength of the LTTE a decade ago and its strength at present. The Security Forces have now defeated a very much stronger LTTE equipped with much sophisticated weapons.

The other important fact is that, Security Forces have physically moved into the jungle to destroy the LTTE capabilities, rather than adopting a methodology to seal off the area by establishing camps surrounding the jungle area, as it happened earlier.

This approach can bring bigger results in maintaining a proper security network in the Eastern province as they do not need to be on alert all the time about a pending threat on civilian lives. The capture of Thoppigala jungle deprives the LTTE of resulting grounds even in a jungle.

Therefore, the security forces do not need to dominate this jungle terrain stretching over 800 square kilometres. They can easily maintain few detachments in and around the jungle to observer any LTTE build up inside the jungle and destroy them once they detect such build up.

The other benefiting factor is that through the deprivation of all bases in the East, the LTTE cannot make any impact on the civilian life, as they do not have any hide-out in the East to cover up their activities though the capture of all LTTE camps does not mean that the LTTE presence in the East is totally removed.

But this can make a bigger impact on the LTTE in controlling their activities mingling with the Tamil civilians as they do not have any ground to organise themselves for such activities considering all these fact, one cannot belittle the victory achieved by the troops as their achievement can make a long-term impact on the East socially and economically.

But at the same time the security forces should be mindful to maintain this victory without allowing LTTE to de-stabilise civilian life as they are capable of reorganising themselves to take control over the territories they have lost through terror activities.

It should also be emphasised that to take the full advantage of the achievements of the security forces, the Government should reach the civilian population speedily, providing them with all their basic needs and infrastructure facilities to show them the difference in their life under a democratic setup.

Therefore, a development drive is a must to give them a feeling of a secured life style in the East without any delay.

The other fact is that Government should ensure that the peaceful life of the civilians is not disturbed by other armed groups, as peace loving civilians no longer tolerate the presence of any armed group in the East.

Therefore the security forces should protect the civilian life and their democratic rights of at any cost, in the context of a pending election in the East.