Troops zoom in on Kilinochchi

by Ranil WIJAYAPALA

It was an arduous journey, the Security Forces had ever undertaken in the past two years. They crept through thorny bushes, trudged thick jungles and climbed rocky terrains to rout the LTTE first in the East and now in the Wanni, whilst facing all sorts of bitter criticism from disgruntled politicians who could not stomach their success after success.

Today they stand victorious after two years of fighting and taking the ruthless terror outfit heads on with the most recent military victory in Thunukkai. The Security Forces have effectively destroyed the inflated image of the LTTE with the capture of their so-called impregnable stronghold in Wanni.

They had also shortened the time frame stipulated earlier for the liberation of Wanni and the North, into a rapid progress during the past two months commencing from the beginning of July.

Those valiant Security Forces have now reached the outskirts of Kilinochchi, the heart of the self-declared kingdom of the LTTE where they forcibly keep hundred thousands of innocent Tamil civilians in the name of liberation depriving them of their basic human rights.

Now those civilians will hear the boom of the canons in their doorsteps and those who have already been displaced from their homes will feel the real threat when they are going to face in the coming weeks.

Fierce battles are expected to erupt in the heart of Kilinochchi in the coming weeks as the war front have reached to the doorstep of Kilinochchi with the capture of the Thunukkai and Uyilankulam by the troops attached to the 57 Division, the first offensive Division formed by the Army clear the pat for the Wanni liberation whilst the final stages of the Eastern liberation was going on in Thoppigala.

Army Commander Lt. General Sarath Fonseka made it clear on Friday evening that Kilinochchi would be the next target of the Security Forces as they are in a more advantageous position with the capture of Thunukkai, the most important administrative base of the LTTE after Kilinochchi and Uyilankulam which has been used by the LTTE as one of the transit points for the cadres operating in Wanni.

It was not just a statement to appease the politicians or the general public on the eve of sensitive North Central and Sabaragamuwa Provincial Councils elections. It was but a statement by the Army Commander Lt. General Sarath Fonseka on the war situation in the North.

According to the Army Commander they are now in a position to manoeuvrer the forces towards any direction in the Wanni, either Mullaitivu via Mankulam, or Kilinochchi, or southern direction to capture any location along the A-9 Road to Omanthai, which has not yet been touched by the Security Forces.

Unlike in the past military operations, the Security Forces this time have left no room for the LTTE to continue to survive in the thick jungle patches in Mullaitivu allowing them to regroup and launch counter attacks on the Security Forces now on their victorious march towards the North.

Considering the pattern of the ongoing battles in Wanni, the LTTE will have to confine itself to a jungle patch demarcated from the Mankulam-Mullaittivu Road and also from the Paranthan-Mullaittivu Road from the northern direction, as all other areas are now being occupied by the Security Forces.

The only pre-condition for this advantageous situation is the capture of Mallavi which is located four kilometers West of Thunukkai on the Mankulam-Vellankulam Road that links the Jaffna-Kandy A-9 Road with the Mannar-Pooneryn A-32 Road.

With the capture of Thunukkai, troops are poised to attack Mallavi as troops attached to the 573 Brigade under the command of Lt. Colonel Prathap Thillekeratne are now operating two kilometres south of Mallavi which is famous for having many of the regional offices of the International Non Governmental Organisations operating in the uncleared areas.

With the capture of the Thunukkai and Mallavi the Army troops will easily take the cover of the thick jungle patches after passing the massive open terrain surrounding Thunukkai and Mallavi and move towards either Kilinochchi or towards Mullaittivu.

On the other hand the Kilinochchi is the most desired target for the Security Forces as they have already taken this target within their artillery range having reached 12 kilometres Southwest of Kilinochchi town with the capture of South of Akkarayankulam tank located just South of Mullaittivu and Kilinochchi district border.

Troops are in fact dominating areas in undeclared locations surrounding the Kilinochchi district though it was officially announced that troops were operating 12 kilometres Southwest of Kilinochchi town.

Taking Kilinochchi is also feasible as troops attached to the 58 Division under the command of Brigadier Shavendra Silva have now reached up to the southern edge of Nachchikuda, and taking control of the Vannerikulam south, a settlement located East of Nachchikuda and four kilometres South of Akkarayankulam.

In addition to these tactically important locations, troops attached to the 58 Division are operating in undeclared locations surrounding Nachchikuda.

The troops attached to the 58 Division on Friday captured a two-kilometres stretch of nearly 22 Kilometres long and 12 feet high earth bund made by the LTTE to stop the advance of the troops further northwards.

The LTTE has construrcted this massive bund towards Akkarayanakulam to make a difficult for the troops to overcome in their garrison between A-32 Road and A-9 Road. They had to abandon their plan due to the lightning speed with which the troops were advancing towards Northwards.

If they could have completed this bund the troops would have to overcome this obstacle in the entire area between A-32 Road and A-9 Road. According to ground sources fierce fighting erupted in this stretch of the 58 Division where Commando troops operating in the South of Akkarayankulam captured two kilometres, stretch of land in the South of Akkarayanakulam. Theepan who is the overall commander for the Vavuniya and Mannar joint-front has started to pump cadres from the Jaffna front to defend the northern-most front in the Kilinochchi district. According to ground sources a large number of Charles Anthony Brigade cadres have confronted the troops in this stretch of territory in the South of Kilinochchi.

With these moves by the LTTE, the Security Forces are achieving its objective in attritionvise as many Tiger cadres get killed with the pumping of new cadres into this battlefront - as nearly 22 cadres were reportedly killed in the battle in the South of Akkarayankulam.

Despite pumping fresh cadres from Jaffna troops operating in the Nachchikuda front have so far failed to bring the desired results as troops intensified the attrition toward this Tiger territory.

Due to this situation Bhanu who is commanding the cadres there in Nachchikuda is running out of patience and was heard over radio transmissions scolding the ground cadres in filth for their failure to stop the advancing of the troops.

As things are dramatically changing for the advantage of the Security Forces at every moment putting the LTTE into a more miserable situation, it is more realistic for the Security Forces to go and capture Kilinochchi.

But this won’t be an easy operation for the Security Forces as they have to think twice before taking any move as the LTTE is preparing to sacrifice thousands of civilians to the Security Forces indirect fire into strategic Tiger locations keeping nearly a 200,000 civilian population, to defend their leaders. However, the Security Forces are ready to face this challenge too very effectively as they have already faced such scenarios in the Eastern liberation operation.

The Security Forces and the Government have already taken measures to prevent unwanted human tragedy in Wanni after educating the civilian population entrapped in Wanni about the pending military operations in the coming days.

Measures have already been taken to receive this civilian population in Vavuniya with many international NGOs committing themselves to serve the civilians ready to flee from the Tiger grip and arrive in safer areas.

Therefore, the coming weeks will become much more sensitive than earlier as fierce battles are about to erupt both in Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi whilst civilian population entrapped in this territory started to flee from the battlefront.

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Troops march towards Thunukkai

The capture of Thunukkai was not a victory achieved by the troops overnight. It was a yet another achievement by the troops attached to the 57 Division under the command of Major General Jagath Dias after commencing their offensive operations against the LTTE at a time the Forward Defence of the Security Forces were located hugging the Vavuniya-Mannar Road.

The troops of the 57 Division passed many milestones to reach Thunukkai, the second most important administrative base of the LTTE.

Starting their operations from Kalmadu in Vavuniya the troops attached to 57 Division passed its first major obstacle in December last year after capturing Thampanai village after intense fighting with the LTTE.

Thereafter, they advanced towards Periyathampanai, Sinnapandivirichchan and Periyapandivirichchan to receive its first significant victory with the capture of Madhu which was one of the biggest challenges before them.

It was the 572 Brigade under the command of Lt. Colonel Senerath Bandara achieved this task in April this year after months long operation.

After the capture of Madhu, the 57 Division proceeded to capture one of the strategically important townships in Palampiddi and Periyamadu.

Periyamadhu was their last outpost known to the public until they reached the outskirts of Thunukkai and Mallavi, the most significant LTTE stronghold they have come across in the Vavuniya battlefront. The importance of Thunukkai enhanced at this stage of the war since they are dominating this town after it was controlled by the LTTE for the past 25 years.

The task of capturing this strategically important township was vested once again with the 572 Brigade under the command of Lt. Colonel Senerath Bandara.

The gateway to Thunukkai was first opened with troops capturing Kalvilan, a village located two kilometres Southwest of Thunukkai town.

The LTTE made use of this village to attack the troops advancing towards Thunukkai positioning their mortar and 12.7 mm guns there in the Kalvilan village.

Troops attached to 7 Sri Lanka Light Infantry Battalion marked the victory of Kalvilan a week prior to the capture of Thunukkai.

The LTTE intensified their fire power targeting the Kalvilan Thunukkai road.

But troops opted alternative routes to achieve their task sometime using armour assault on their strong bunkers. However, with the capture of Kalvilan the troops exploited the Tiger cadres’ withdrawal towards Thunukkai without delaying the advance towards Thunukkai to push the LTTE further towards the North.

The decisive battle to capture this strategically important township was started on Thursday morning with 7 Sri Lanka Light Infantry battalion under the command of Lt. Col. Ranjith Abeyratne was given the task. Four small teams advanced towards Thunukkai town amidst artillery and mortar fire towards Thunukkai.

Tiger cadres made continuous attempts to stop the advancing of troops deploying two special teams. However troops were able to reach five way junction in Thunukkai by 5 pm on Thursday. Two soldiers have already sacrificed their lives by that time and three others have sustained injuries during the latest confrontations.

As troops observed the presence of Tiger cadres close to five way junction four MI-24 helicopters took the precise target exactly at 5.45 p.m.

Thursday - The troops stopped their mission for that day after they got confirmation that at least 20 Tiger cadres were killed due to the air attack. Troops also observed the way LTTE cadres reacted to the MI-24 assault on them by firing towards MI-24s.

On Friday at 6.45 am the troops began their mission once again with the objective of completing their task. The LTTE had not given up the task of pushing the troops from this strategically important town. They continued their 120 mm and 122 mm artillery assaults on Thunukkai. The Security Forces too reacted to these artillery assaults effectively.

By this time the 10th Battalion of the Sri Lanka Light Infantry under the command of Lt. Colonel Jagath Kodithuwakku had captured Uyilankulam town located 7 Kilometres North of Thunukkai.

It was exactly at 11.40 a.m. troops of the 7 SLII entered the centre of Thunukkai town as Tiger cadres were fleeing towards Mallavi while firing artillery and mortar at the troops and abandoning their armour plated tractor and few other vehicles. Now troops are engaged in search and clear operation and consolidating their positions in Thunukkai with the objective of achieving their next target Mallavi.