Post mortems galore

In the aftermath of Anuradhapura attack

A number of 'post mortems' were now being conducted into the Monday's deadly attack on the Sri Lanka Air Force base in Anuradhapura in which eight of the SLAF aircraft fleet were destroyed with 13 Air Force personnel including two officers dead.

It is obvious that the attack by the well trained Black Tiger cadre on the airbase was a severe blow to the SLAF not in terms of losing air capabilities but the morale which was at a higher level during the past few months, especially after the precise LTTE targets that they hit in the Wanni.

There were many disputed reports regarding the number of aircraft that were damaged in the ground attack by the LTTE, despite the fact the Government reiterating the fact that only eight aircraft were destroyed inside the base. The numbers indicated in these reports sometimes lend to exceed by the number given by the LTTE following the air attack.

This has given a chance even for the LTTE to suggest that the number of aircraft destroyed in the attack must be much more than what they said earlier giving the reason that they could not count the exact number of aircraft destroyed due to the confusion inside the airbase though they were in control of the airbase till Monday morning.

But the fact remains here is that the LTTE did not mention this fact, through the reports in the pro-LTTE Tamilnet website prior to the controversial news reports published in the South. Even they themselves are confused over the figure they had given due to these media reports.

Now they are assessing their success through the controversial news reports published in the South conducting 'post mortems' even prior to the official investigations were over on the incident. The most alarming factor is that even those who are conducting investigations too are not in apposition to get the correct picture of the incident as they are still getting controversial accounts of the incident.

It is fair to keep a close eye on the incident, which was a serious lapse on the part of national security, but it is unfair to glorify the Tiger outfit as heroes of the day, without observing the correct picture.

The main complaint of the media, especially from the international media about the incident was that Government delayed the process of declaring the damage caused in the air attack. But those who were working for those international media willingly ignoring the fact that the US Government did not reveal the true picture of the 9/11 attack, immediately after the incident.

Vocal critics

The Government had to declare the damages caused to the air base as search operations were going on inside the airbase. By the time Defence Affairs spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella addressed the pre-arranged press briefing at the Media Centre for National Security, search operations were still going on inside the airbase.

The SLAF had to carefully assess the damages caused to the aircraft due to the ground attack by the LTTE defusing hand grenades and also suicide kits as many of the Tiger cadres engaged in this type operations were suicide cadres.

The Tiger cadre were in control of the two bunkers facing the hangar till around 9.45 am on Monday until Special Forces troops launched an armoured assault to take control of the two bunkers killing two or three cadres hiding inside the bunker. Only then the troops started the search operations and to assess the damage caused.

By the time, the press conference was held the SLAF had not even opened the doors of the hangar fearing it may have been booby trapped.

Therefore, there had been no time for the Government to reveal the full damage even by Tuesday morning as the SLAF had to conduct a full assessment on the attack identifying damaged aircraft which were beyond economical repairs and the rest which could be added to the fleet, after repairs.

It was by Tuesday evening the SLAF completed the full assessment report and handed it over to the Air Force Chief. Therefore, the best available opportunity to reveal the total extent was through a special statement by the Prime Minister in the Parliament on Wednesday morning.

It was not out of compulsion that the SLAF declared the damages caused by the attack but as it did not want to cover up the incident for any reason whatsoever, as the damage had already been done.

There had been many vocal critics about the damages caused to the aircraft.

Their estimates about the damages exceeded 400 million US dollars, which was far beyond the exact estimate of the SLAF which was only Rs. 1.5 billion, according to the Air Force chief.

It has to be accepted that whatever the losses, that had to be borne by the people of this country as public money is spent on purchasing these aircraft. But at the same time it had to be remembered that the SLAF too is fighting with a terror organisation. Therefore, we also should expect this type of losses in our fight against a terror outfit which is not a cake walk.

We should also recall the fact that the LTTE got this chance after thousands of beatings they got in the East and also in the Wanni, not only at the hands of the three Forces and the Police but also at the hands of the Home Guards of the newly formed Civil Security Department.

But none of their defeats came to the fore through media since the LTTE kept silent on the severe beatings they were getting in the Wanni. But there were no demands from the media from the LTTE to divulge the exact losses due to SLAF attacks.

Contrary to this the entire media, especially the international media fell into the trap of the LTTE when they were taken for a ride by the LTTE to tarnish the image of the SLAF when the Chencholai Military Training Centre was bombed by the SLAF last year.

It took more than months for the SLAF to convince the local media and also the international community that Chencholai was not an orphanage, or a first aid training centre, as claimed by the LTTE to get the international community to their side.

Fortunately, it was after two girls who entered Government held areas to have urgent treatment for their injuries, it was proved that it was a weapons training centre of the LTTE to provide training to forcibly recruited students.

Thereafter, all their media blitz created to tarnish the image of the SLAF, failed as they could not come out with clear evidence to prove that civilians were killed in any of the SLAF attacks.

The LTTE kept silence when dozens of the senior level military cadres got killed in the air raids in the Wanni and when they were losing major ammunition dumps, fuel dumps, Sea Tiger bases, military bases, training camps and also their VVIP hideouts in the Wanni.

It took months for the Security Forces to get the confirmation that more than 60 cadres were killed and 40 injured when SLAF fighter jets bombed one of their training camps in Chempankundu in Poonery on September 25.

Therefore, the losses on the part of the LTTE due to SLAF attacks were much higher than what LTTE had achieved through the attack on the airbase in Anuradhapura. The operational capabilities of the SLAF have not been affected due to these losses as only MI-24 gunship helicopter was the only aircraft which is used for operational aspects.

With the loss of one MI-24 helicopter the fighting capabilities of the SLAF affected any Air Force cannot maintain their fleet hundred per cent operational all the time. Only 70 to 80 per cent of the fleet is at serviceable on daily basis.

Many of the aircraft which were destroyed in the attack were trainer aircraft as the SLAF use Anuradhapura airbase as a training base for pilots. The three PT-6 aircraft which were destroyed in the attack were used for basic pilot training. The Bell 206 helicopter which was purchased in 1972 was also used as basic trainer for helicopter pilots while K-8 was used as a jet trainer.

The MI-17 helicopter medium lift helicopter was used for transport purposes and will not affect the operational aspects of the SLAF. The controversial B-200T Beechcraft is primarily a commercial helicopter used for VIP transport but in this instance the SLAF used at as a surveillance aircraft after fitting it with surveillance equipment under research and development projects of the SLAF.

According to estimates of the SLAF it can be easy replaced in double quick time with the available resources and will not affect the surveillance capabilities at all. The UAVs that were damaged due to flying shrapnel are in a repairable stage and SLAF is making arrangements to repair them immediately.

What has to be mentioned here though the SLAF could retaliate the Tiger cadre and save vital SLAF installations inside the base including the fuel dump and engineering service units. If the LTTE succeeded in attacking those facilities the airbase could have been thrown out of service. Fortunately the airbase remains intact despite the loss of aircraft and number of Air Force personnel.

What is most important here is that the LTTE could not manage to destroy the human resources of the SLAF. The disaster would have been much greater if they reached the officers' quarters and killed a number of pilots resting there.

Therefore, no one could downplay the role played by the SLAF defending vital resources at the base. The other fact that has to be highlighted, that has not been blocked out by certain media, is that LTTE this time too failed in their attempt of using their crude air power accurately as four of the bombs that were dropped were far short of targets.

For the fourth time they had failed to drop their bombs accurately. Only few cows grazing outside the airbase parameter were innocent victims. But the fact that there had been security lapses in the Air Force base has to be accepted. Otherwise the Tiger cadre cannot infiltrate into the airbase cutting through the double fence and defusing mines and anti personnel mines laid in defence of the air base.

The SLAF has to admit that they have put the SLAF base in an insecure position sometimes, taking the security of the airbase for granted. The investigations which are going on now should focus on the loopholes in the security system in order to learn lessons from the incident. Those who were responsible for these security lapses should be brought to book to prevent a repetition of such incidents in the future. But the fact remains is that the Tiger cadre have reached the Air Force base 'passing' all the tight security network in the Anuradhapura city where security is maintained at higher level.

The way the LTTE hoodwinked the security network in Anuradhapura is also a grave concern that has to be drawn to the committees and institutions conducting investigations into the incident.

At the same breath there has to be an in-depth study about the air bases located in populated areas in the country as they too will be vulnerable to terror attacks the future, as these bases need larger space compared to other security installations.

Whether it is Anuradhapura, Ratmalana or Katunayake air bases they have to be kept out of reach for the public if the security of these air bases has to be guaranteed.

If not, the aircraft parked at these air bases will be vulnerable to such attacks even that can be hit from the outside, without infiltrated into these air bases. The only difference in the Anuradhapura attack is that the Tiger cadres involved in the attack did not want to go back as they were engaged in, as they were in a do or die mission.

The SLAF has constantly facing difficulties in the process of extending these air bases with public agitations against these projects. Under these circumstances the SLAF has to confine many of their expansion projects putting their assets in peril.

Therefore, it is now high time for the public and also for the relevant authorities to think twice about the security of other airbases in the country against the will of the LTTE get rid of these air assets which has become major challenge for them to go for an all out war against the Security Forces in the Wanni.