Troops poised for the kill

by Ranil WIJAYAPALA

The final blow on the LTTE is now on, with the troops gradually overcoming all the obstacles ahead of them in the outskirts of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu in the aftermath of the LTTE’s desperate attempts at changing the military balance with their attack on the SLAF base in Vavuniya last Tuesday.

LTTE faced a severe blow in their latest attempt to infiltrate into the Vavuniya Sri Lanka Air Force Base targeting the vital radar system there while firing large number of artillery rounds into Wanni Security Forces Headquarters and inducting their Black Tiger cadres through a ground infiltration.

The LTTE is now keeping a dead silence over the incident as all their attempts were foiled by the Security Forces after shooting down one of their light aircraft in the West of Mullaitivu.

Despite their claim that their light aircraft returned safely, the LTTE keeps mum over the incident in which the SLAF pilot on board the latest F-7 interceptor confirmed the destruction of the aircraft in a fire ball.

It was around 3 a.m. when the Security Forces Headquarters in Wanni was alerted with an unexpected fall of artillery round onto an open space outside the military and Police complex. The sudden artillery round that fell into the SFHQ area put the entire military complex on alert.

Rounds of artillery continued to fall on to the SFHQ whilst the instructions were issued to those inside the military complex to move into bunkers as it was under artillery fire.

Amidst the artillery rounds falling into various places in and out of the military complex one soldier manning a sentry point covering the Army camp area where the Special Forces have their battalion headquarters, observed an unusual movement ahead of his sentry point.

Since it was very unusual for any soldier to scrawl on the ground when a military complex is under artillery fire, he fired at what he observed without having a second thought. He was right in his guess. The return fire came in his direction and the entire camp was alerted that it was not only under artillery fire but the camp was also facing infiltration from the ground.

By this time two Black Tiger cadres had moved close to the road that separates the SLAF base and the Special Forces Brigade Headquarters within the Wanni Security Forces Headquarters and the Special Forces troops detected a few more Tiger cadres trying to infiltrate into the camp area.

It was similar to the attack on the SLAF base in Anuradhapura in which Black Tiger cadres infiltrated the Air Base while two of their light aircraft dropped some bombs into the Air Base.

But this time they had chosen the wrong place to enter the military complex.

The Black Tiger cadres had tried to move towards the SLAF base through the Special Forces Brigade inside the SFHQ.

The firing came from all directions towards the Tiger infiltrators. The LTTE fire power was heavier as they had come for a do or die mission. They had no hope of returning. But the determination of the troops was also high and they fearlessly faced the Black Tiger cadres amidst rains of artillery rounds falling into the camp site.

The mission of the Tiger cadres was obvious. They were trying to reach towards the SLAF base and the control tower of the radars located inside the SLAF base.

The others who had highly sophisticated communication equipment including satellite phones were misdirecting the artillery targets.

The artillery detecting radars in Weli Oya had detected two 130 mm artillery guns being fired from Puliyankulam side. It was at the peak of the ground battle that the entire camp was alerted about two aircraft heading towards Vavuniya. As Black Tiger cadres fell one after the other as a result of the fire directed at them by the SF troops and the Air Force ground troops, the entire camp got ready to face the pending air threat to the military complex. By this time troops had effectively foiled the attempts of the Black Tiger cadres in Army uniforms to infiltrate the camp.

However, one Black Tiger cadre who managed to reach close to the road separating the Army camp and the Air Force base directed one RPG towards the air control tower but missed the target. They were all killed by the troops and other cadres committed suicide by exploding their suicide jackets as they could not face the fire directed at them by the forces.

It was at 3.28 a.m. as the Wanni SFHQ was under artillery fire and under ground infiltration, the radars at the Vavuniya Air Base detected one Tiger aircraft heading towards Vavuniya. Three minutes later they detected another blip on the radar that was also heading towards Vavuniya.

The SLAF activated the air defence system as the LTTE light aircraft were heading towards Vavuniya. All guns including T-56s were directed towards the roaring sound of the aircraft. They also directed flash lights into the air.

The entire sky over Wanni SFHQ resembled a sea of fire. Amidst heavy firing one aircraft reached the southern outer perimeter of the military complex and dropped two crude bombs into the camp area. One fell close to the Special Forces Commander, Brigadier Nirmal Dharamaratne’s chalet but he was on leave. But the bomb remained unexploded.

The other aircraft had turned back due to heavy resistance from the Security Forces from all directions. By this time two Chinese built F-7 BS interceptors were airborne from Katunayake - just eight minutes after the radars detected the two aircraft heading towards Vavuniya.

The Chinese built F-7 aircraft with air-to-air interceptor capability had detected one Tiger aircraft flying back towards west of Mullaitivu. The pilot on board F-7 had locked the target and the air to air missile was released destroying the light aircraft completely.

The F-7 interceptor had locked the target keeping a one and half kilometre distance to the Tiger aircraft.

The pilot had observed that the aircraft went down in a fireball. Since it had taken place in the dark there was no capability to video the destruction of the aircraft as the camera cannot zoom into the target in the darkness.

The missile system of the F-7 interceptor with air to air capability has been tuned only to release the missile once the target is locked over 95 per cent. Therefore, the claim by the LTTE just 12 hours after the incident that their aircraft had returned safely without giving any sign of an air attack in the morning like their earlier missions, is nothing but spurious.

Even after the foiled LTTE ground infiltration and the air attack, the LTTE continued to fire artillery into the Wanni SFHQ area thinking that at least a few of their Black Tiger cadres would have survived to fulfil the mission!

They have changed the location of the artillery gun taking it from one place to another so that the long range artillery of the Security Forces cannot counter their artillery guns. Apart from that, they have taken precautionary measures to hide these guns from SLAF aircraft after having small fires in several locations around Puliyankulam so that the pilots cannot identify from which direction the canons are fired.

One aircraft airborne to detect these guns and neutralise them had observed this tactic of the LTTE.

Therefore, the Tiger artillery fire continued till 5.45 a.m. with the firing of 80 rounds of artillery into Wanni SFHQ area. Many of them fell into open spaces inside the camp. Ten soldiers, one Police officer and a civilian were killed due to artillery fire while 20 others from the Army, Air Force and the Police sustained injuries.

Security Forces commenced search operations after artillery fire ceased around 5.45 a.m. and found 11 bodies of the Black Tiger cadres in Army uniforms. Troops also recovered satellite phones, Bangalore torpedoes, explosives, charges and Rocket Propelled Grenades, detonator cords and GPSs.

Their plan was to blast the radar control tower after infiltrating the Air Force base. The Bangalore torpedo had been taken to neutralize the mine fields which are normally laid down close to barbed wire fences.

Meanwhile, if they reached the Air Force radar towers they could have given the exact grid reference using their GPS to take an accurate target from their long range artillery guns located in Puliyankulam.

Intelligence reports have now revealed that this group of Tiger cadres have reached there from the Tannimurippukulam area and had worn Army uniforms at the Asikulam village which is located adjacent to the SFHQ Wanni.

It is believed at least two Tiger cadres would have escaped after sustaining injuries in the confrontations. The LTTE is fast losing their well trained cadres who can accomplish their deadly terror plans as they have sent very young cadres to carry out this operation. They have sent five young girls who are in their 18s and 19s to accomplish their mission. Instead they sacrificed their lives for a failed mission. Intelligence reports also indicate that the pilots of the two light aircraft had come reluctantly as they had a narrow escape when they bombed the Naval Dockyard in Trincomalee, a few weeks back.

This is a clear evidence that they are fast losing their elite cadres and their fighting spirit in the same manner they are losing their territory in the Wanni which they have defended for more than 25 years.

The SLAF also came out with their superior capabilities not only through the destruction of one light aircraft but also taking LTTE targets very accurately within this week.

It has been confirmed that the air raid in the West of Kilinochchi on Thursday was also a successful one with many of the NGOs in Wanni confirming that the SLAF had taken the target very accurately.

But they have missed the real target, the LTTE intelligence Wing chief Pottu Amman, who had visited the scene minutes after the bombing of the location by the SLAF fighter jets.

The SLAF received an added bonus as one of the LTTE claymore factories was also destroyed in the air raid which targeted the headquarters of the Intelligence Wing. Ground sources have confirmed that after the air raid, the civilians around this location were engaged in collecting bicycle balls in large quantities.

Therefore, the LTTE has no escape even in the narrow stretch of land they are controlling as the people who have been entrapped in the Wanni are passing accurate information to the Security Forces enabling the Air Force to take precise targets.

The LTTE may have to face the final blow in Kilinochchi shortly as troops have advanced five to six kilometres South of Kilinochchi by yesterday passing Akkaraynbakulam tank area and moving further East of Akkarayankulam.

In the latest confrontations in Akkarayankulam troops have thwarted attempts by the LTTE to construct another huge earth bund in the East of Akkarayankulam, destroying one of their earth moving equipment in the East of Akkarayankulam.

As the troops attached to 57 Division are confronting the LTTE in Akkarayan area, the troops attached to 58 Division are now in the process of capturing vital sections of massive earth bund in the East and West of Vannerikulam and in the South of Nachchikuda.

As the troops attached to 58 Division were confronting the LTTE at a massive earth bund, the troops attached to the 59 Division operating in the Weli Oya front have reached the vital Nayaru lagoon area in the South of Mullaitivu.

With the Government’s latest announcement to aid workers including UN to withdraw from Wanni fierce battles are expected to erupt in coming days as the LTTE territory has now been confined only to a limited area in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts compelling them to engage in a do or die type battle.