Road to Jaffna:

Muhamalai, Palai, Soranpattu and strategic Elephant Pass fall in a row

The capture of the Tiger heartland Kilinochchi and strategic junction Paranthan, by the 57 and 58 Divisions led by Major General Jagath Dias and Brigadier Shavendra Silva with the dawn of the year 2009 was the beginning of the end of the LTTE.

Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran never thought of losing Kilinochchi to the Security Forces even in his wildest dreams.

But Security Forces made this unrealistic victory a realistic one after fighting the battle fearlessly, amid a greater political backing by the Government and the renewed support extended by the civil society towards achieving this noble task.

Even after the fall of Kilinochchi, the LTTE never admitted their defeat and continued to declare that it was only a tactical withdrawal they made from Kilinochchi. However, by the time the troops advanced into Kilinochchi, the LTTE had shifted almost all their assets from the town making it a ghost town as civilians had also fled the town towards the East of Kilinochchi.

The entire population of displaced civilians together with the residents of Kilinochchi had moved towards Dharmapuram and Visuamadu thus making the battles ahead more intense. The Kilinochchi town was fully came under the control of the Security Forces shifting the entire battle to the East of Kilinochchi and to the North of Paranthan by January 2.

It was after the announcement of the fall of Kilinochchi by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the national flag was hoisted in the centre of Kilinochchi by 57 Division General Officer Commanding Major General Jagath Dias as the dusk fell on January 2, 2009.

However, the real celebrations took place on January 3, in the centre of Kilinochchi town after GOC of 57 Division and 58 Division, the Brigade Commanders, Commanding Officers and other senior officers taking a group photograph at the LTTE Headquarters building which later became the headquarters of the 58 Division. Major General Jagath Dias and Brigadier Shavendra Silva embraced each other at this historic moment.

Later the 58 Division troops headed by Brigadier Shavendra Silva took another group photograph in the centre of Paranthan junction to mark the historic victory.

No relaxation

But, the ground troops did not have time to relax although they have achieved one of the biggest victories in the fourth Eelam War. For the 58 Division there was a massive task ahead as they had to fight in a wider front. From the North they were confronting the Tiger cadres operating in the Jaffna lagoon facing strategic Elephant Pass and on the other side the troops had to advance along the Paranthan Mullaitivu Road. The 57 Division had to advance farther East of Kilinochchi and was confronting the LTTE cadres operating in the Iranamadu Tank area.

That was the first time in the near three decades long history of the North East conflict, the Security Forces were able to capture these strategic towns after conducting their operations from the South to North direction.

Therefore, the Security Forces could easily trap the LTTE cadres operating in the Jaffna battle front as they were in a position to attack the Muhamalai, Kilali and Nagarkovil defences directly from the South.

Elephant Pass which was considered a killing field for both Security Forces and the LTTE, became the next target of the Security Forces. Although, the 58 Division which was operating in Paranthan could easily move into the Elephant Pass garrison and capture entire Elephant Pass area, the task was later shifted to the 53 and 55 offensive Divisions which were operating in the Muhamalai, Kilali and Nagarkovil front.

Therefore, the 53 Division under the Command of Brigadier Kamal Gunaratna, and the 55 Division commanded by Brigadier Prasanna de Silva started their move, North to South direction to reach Elephant Pass and link up with the 58 Division troops.

In their march towards Elephant Pass 1 VIR battalion of the 53 Division operated close to the A9 Road from the South.

The 5 Gemunu Watch Battalion, 1 and 6 battalions of the Gajaba Regiment and the 5 Vijayaba Infantry Regiment battalion were the other battalions that strengthened the force of the 53 Division, which was commanded by Brigadier Kamal Gunaratne.

The 53 Division comprised three Brigades; 533 Brigade commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Jayanath Jayaweera, the Air Mobile Brigade commanded by Lt. Colonel Shantha Dissanayake and the Mechanized Infantry Brigade which was the latest addition to the Army, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Lalantha Gamage. The 533 Brigade was comprised 1 Gajaba and 5 Vijayaba regiments.

The Air Mobile Brigade comprised 1 VIR and 5 GW battalions.

The 1st and 2nd battalions of the Mechanized Infantry brigade were under the command of the 53 Division.

On the other side, in the North of A9 Road up to Kadolana area in the lagoon front, the 55 Division was advancing parallel under the command of Brigadier Prasanna de Silva. Initially the 8 and 7 battalions of the Vijayaba Infantry Regiment (VIR) and 6 Sri Lanka Light Infantry (SLLI) battalion launched the offensive on January 5 night. The 4 (GW) was a reserve battalion, which joined the battle as the Army progressed.

Both Divisions launched their offensives on January 5 late in the night advancing till next morning.

The 553 Brigade under the Command of Colonel Mahinda Weerasuriya was in control of 2 kilometres of their line towards the A9 road with 6 SLLI battalion and 7 VIR battalion. The 552 Brigade under the command of Colonel K.B. Udalupola was operating on the other 2 kilometres with 8 VIR battalion and 4 GW battalion as a reserve.

At the start of their advance 53 Division troops were operating in the Muhamalai FDL with a short distance of 30 - 40 metres between the two defence lines, the Security Forces and the LTTE.

That was the LTTE’s original second Defence Line in the Muhamalai front as the troops were able to capture their first Defence Line in November 2008 after a fierce battle with the LTTE.

For the 55 Division the second defence line was at a distance of just about 600 metres by the North of A9 road side and 810 metres from the Kadolana side.

An obstacle

The 53 Division had an obstacle, a high ground on the Kilali Lagoon side. Yet with constant Artillery and mortar support troops totally consolidated their positions in the LTTE Defence line by January 6 evening including the high ground. The 53 Division was at a greater advantageous position. Troops of the 552 and 553 brigades systematically fixed charges to the LTTE bunker lines during the nighttime operation.

By 4 a.m. next day (6 January, 2009) the entire LTTE FDL was captured by the troops and by 5.30 pm on January 6 the two Divisions joined together in the new defence line. By this time the LTTE was engaged in a delaying fighting as they were aware that there is no escape for them in the Jaffna front as they have been trapped both from the North and the South.

Although the battle was fought under conditions that were favourable for the Security Forces, the battle to overrun the LTTE defence line was a fierce one as the troops had to dare heavy mine fields. The Tiger outfit also wanted to make it a fierce battle as they were confronted with a task of the shifting all their assets from the area.

Amid these fierce battles the LTTE managed to shift many of their military assets from the peninsula using the Nagarkovil, Vettilaikerni, Championpattu axis.

The LTTE was very much aware that they could not move their guns out of the peninsula towards Mullaitivu at a time when fierce battles raged in the ground.

At the same time they were also aware that it was extremely difficult for them to evacuate casualties from the ground in an event of a bigger battle as they have been sealed off from the southern part of Elephant Pass.

Troops resist fearlessly

That was after the capture of the entire LTTE defence line, the 53 and 55 Divisions started their move towards Elephant Pass on January 7.

Once troops started moving fast the Tiger resistance reduced drastically as the Sri Lanka Air Force fighter jets and the MI-24 helicopter gunships destroyed many of the gun positions detected by the Security Forces.

Those Southbound troops rolled down along both sides of the A9 Highway, on January 7 afternoon, after they broke off from the Muhamalai defences. Troops came under a rain of heavy enemy gunfire, but the troops responded and resisted fearlessly while forging ahead.

Several key LTTE Area Command centres, including the Kilali’s Echo-9 Base, Golf-7 Muhamalai Area Command Base, Echo-3 Base and Delta-2 Base were entirely smashed and brought under the troops control on January 7.

Artillery fire, directed by advancing troops set ablaze a huge LTTE ammunition dump, ahead of the troops, emitting huge bellows of smoke into the skies. A large cache of weapons and LTTE armaments, kept hidden and sealed inside concrete-made underground hideouts were also found by the troops as they moved forward.

It was on January 8 morning the strategic town Pallai fell under the control of the Security Forces.

Then the troops advanced towards Soranpattu which was located 5 Km southeast of Pallai despite LTTE heavy resistance, obstacles, minefields and booby traps.

Although the troops were able to achieve all those victories with minimum casualties the SLA lost one of its senior battalion commanders on January 9, just few hours prior to the capture of Elephant Pass, in Soranpattu area. Lt. Colonel Nalinda Kumarasinghe the Commanding Officer of the 5 Gemunu Watch battalion. He was the most senior officer of the Sri Lanka Army to sacrifice his life during the fourth Eelam War.

By the time the 53 and 55 Divisions commenced their operations to advance to the Southern part of the Jaffna peninsula, the 58 Division troops had already reached the southern part of Elephant Pass along the A9 Road. They had taken control of the Thamilamadam area and part of the former military complex of the Sri Lanka Army by January 6 morning.

By January 9, 2009 morning troops had reached upto the key Iyakachchi junction which leads to Vettilaikerni and Elephant Pass and troops were ready to make the historic move.

The troops attached to I Vijayaba Infantry Regiment were in the forefront of the troops advancing from the North whilst 2 Commando troops under the command of Lt. Colonel Balasuriya attached to the 58 Division were awaiting to make that historic move to take full control of the A-9 Road.

Major Shahmid from the 2 Commando Regiment representing the 58 Division and Captain Nissanka from the 1 Vijayaba Infantry Regiment attached to the 53 Division linked up at the Elephant Pass board around 11 a.m. on Friday and message was passed to Colombo to make final arrangements for the President to announce this historic victory.

Historic occasion

That was one of the historic occasions in the North East conflict as it was the first time the Jaffna Security Forces Command and the Wanni Security Forces Command joined together via a land route as the capture of this terrain also marked the entire liberation of the Jaffna-Kandy A9 Road which was the key land route which connects the main land with the Jaffna peninsula.

To achieve this task, the Northern battle front was commanded by Major General Mendaka Samarasinghe who took over as the Jaffna Security Forces Commander after Major General Chandrasiri’s promotion as the Chief of Staff of the Army. The Wanni sector was under the command of the Major General Jagath Jayasuriya.

The entire liberation of the A9 Road was completed with the capture of the Kilinochchi and Kokavil by the 57 Division under the command of Major General Jagath Dias by January 2, 2009, the liberation of the road stretch from Kokavil to Mankulam by the Task Force III under the command of Brigadier Satyapriya Liyanage by November 17, 2008, and with the liberation of the road stretch from Omanthai to Mankulam South by the Task Force II under the command of Brigadier Rohana Bandara.

Therefore, the stage was set for bigger celebrations for January 10, 2009.

The Security Forces celebrated the occasion with Wanni Security Forces Commander Major General Jagath Jayasuriya and Jaffna Security Forces Commander Mendaka Samarasinghe shaking hands in the centre of Elephant Pass by the side of the old Elephant Pass Rest House.

All GOCs, Brigade Commanders and Commanding Officers attached to the 58 Division, 53 Division and 55 Division and the troops marched along the liberated Elephant Pass terrain without any fear whilst marking this historic occasion after serving each other with ‘Kevun’ and ‘Kiribath’ as national flag proudly fluttered in the breez of the Elephant Pass air. Following that historic move, troops of the 55 Division and 53 Division continued their operations to capture the remaining part of the peninsula towards the Eastern coast of the peninsula whilst 58 Division continued their march towards the East of Paranthan towards Mirusamodai.