Walk on ‘trapeze’

Soldiers on the path to victory:

by Dhaneshi Yatawara in Vavuniya

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Keep to the path,Walk only on the path, Follow the path! These were the words repeated by the troops and their superiors while walking on the battlefield of the Wanni front.

Be it the open terrains of the rice bowl towards Mannar or the jungles in the Madhu area or the thick tropical Andankulam forest reserve in the Weli Oya front, the order was the same. They were on the track so we kept on to the track.

No one deceived or no one doubted his (or her) teammate walking in front. These were the steadfast rules in the battlefield.

In the Mullaithivu jungles

We were in the Mullaithivu jungles walking upright and safely thanks to our brave soldiers steadily holding the line stretching up in that area which was captured just two days before our visit.

We were walking swiftly, my colleague and I wearing heavy flak jackets with plates and the bulky tough helmet to protect ourselves from being hit with sharpenels in a mortar attack. Alert soldiers with weapons were briskly walking around us securing the two non-military souls.

This was my first ever walk in the Mullaithivu jungles. This area was under the 57 division of the Wanni battle lead by Major General Jagath Dias, General Officer Commanding the division.

Just two days later when my colleagues and I were returning home after a very long visit in the Wanni battlefields troops of the 57 division (to be precise the 573 brigade) entered the sacred Madhu shrine few kilometers away from the place we were visiting, without firing a single shot.

“No infiltration attempts were reported ever since we secured these areas.

Our soldiers are keeping the lines tightly secured,” said Lieutenant Colonel Liyanage, Officer Commanding the battalion.

We walked on the gravel road cleared by soldiers of Lt. Col. Liyanage’s battalion under the scorching sun. Troops deployed in the defence line were firing mortars towards a location from where the Tigers were firing mortars.

At a point we were all ordered to divert our path away from the gravel road and walk in the trenches by the side of the road and cross the road through a culvert just three feet in height.

This was to be out of sight from the terrorists who have located themselves just a few hundred meters away from our location. In the thicket, talking in whispers the soldiers showed us terrorist movements just ahead of us.

Sergeant Premarathne, who commands the company deployed in the line said, that they have moved forward a lot. “With the guidance from our Commanding officer we are surely moving ahead. Yet we have great difficulties. We were 2km behind ten days before” he added.

The rain, huge puddles made our forward march difficult. On top of it the area was heavily trapped by the LTTE, Premarathne said.

“We see that our enemy has lost its morale. Almost all the time they have escaped from their positions and hardly came to a face to face attack,” soldiers of Sergeant Premarathne’s company said.

Terrorists could not hold their positions against our strong hits on them and what they could only do is to lay booby traps and AP mines to slow down us but that would not happen, they said.We returned on the same path as the mortar firing was continuing yet they said. Comparatively it was a ‘quiet’ day.

In the rough terrain

During our visit to the 58 division we were able to visit certain parts of the so called LIMA III base held by terrorists. The 58 division led by Brigadier Shavindra Silva has advanced by leaps and bounds in the terrains of Mannar, the rice bowl.

Captain Kumarasinghe the Officer Commanding the battalion holding this line showed us the ‘terra’ movements across the abandoned paddy fields. The location of 58 division is totally covered by paddy fields and dotted with a large number of tanks, the Giant’s tank being the most prominent. In this open are any movement is visible for hundreds and hundreds of miles.

We were able to see terrorists moving a far and obviously they were able to see us.

“While we were on our mission to capture this base we heard many female voices. They were shouting at each other sometimes in Tamil and sometimes in Sinhala,” soldiers of Capt. Kumarasinghe’s battalion told us.

“Miss wathura tikakwath genalla dennada? (Miss can I fetch you some water?) one of the soldiers asked me, may be feeling a bit guilty of being unable to serve their visitors. Forward Defence Lines are not luxurious. Yet these soldiers have made their line as comfortable as possible.

Again wearing the protective jackets and helmets my collegues, and I along with officer from the Division and several soldiers with weapons protecting us, we walked under the blazing sun. We had to walk more swiftly because of the nature of the terrain.

By the time of our visit the area was much dried up and soldiers were able to move more comfortably. A few days back the area was badly affected by the unexpected rainy weather. Troops had to stay in bunkers flooded with rain water.

The 58 division blocks the supply route of the Tigers that lies along the western coastal belt. Hence, terrorists’ resistance is quite high in the area yet the soldiers are highly confident in holding and securing their positions while marching forward. Though both sides were quite visible to each other yet no attacks broke out.

In the Andankulam forest reserve

The 59 division lead by Brigadier Nandana Udawatta has secured an admirable position in the south of Andankulam forest reserve blocking the supply routes of the Tigers.

This jungle with undergrowth and a thick canopy shows signs of damages by the unexpected rains. Yet the troops have moved forward without any draw back launching surprise attacks on the enemy.

The routes were suitable only for war tanks; hence our moves were quite ‘smooth’, comparatively. These jungles which were rescued by the troops quite recently are infested with killer traps and anti personnel mines buried by the terrorists.

Yet the routes used to evacuate the injured and deliver the supplies are totally secured by the troops. Colonel Manisha de Silva, Commander of the 592 brigade confirmed that there were no infiltration attempts by the Tigers towards the captured areas.

There were thundering sounds of mortars and artillery fires some distance away but it was evident that a battalion in a close range was engaged in an attack.

Our next stop of the 59 division was an artillery position close to the Tactical Headquarters of the respective battalion. Major Hettiarachchi, the Officer Commanding, and his men were standing alert to support their colleagues marching forward a few kilometers away.

“There was an attack in the morning and we retaliated. Now we are standing by for a second attack. Perhaps by night fall, we can expect,” Major Hettiarachchi said, giving us a hint of sleepless nights they are used to.

That evening we returned to Colombo where all of us were able to sleep comfortably and securely while those brave young men of the Sri Lanka Army, the true sons of our motherland were getting ready for another sleepless night.