LTTE going against the will of people entrapped in Wanni

The lull after intense battles in the East which resulted with the expulsion of the LTTE from the Eastern province, has given fair time for the LTTE to decide on which path they should chose to decide the destiny of the Tamil community entrapped in the Wanni.

So far the LTTE has not shown any interest towards selecting the path of peace but has given clear indications that they are strongly in favour of a military solution as they think the situation is not advantageous for them to enter peace talks with the Government, especially after their defeat in the East.

With this background the Government with the backing from the majority population in the country indicates its strong desire to evict Tiger terrorists from the North in their bid to create a peaceful situation in the country to implement a political solution that can address the grievances of the minority communities in the country.

In other words the Government is making two way approaches to the problem, by way of a military solution and also by political means. The ongoing arguments and counter arguments within the All Party Representative Committee is heading towards evolving a solution to the problem amidst protests by various political parties.

But the Tiger outfit, which always anticipates political turmoil in the South to achieve their objectives making use of all these arguments within a democratic framework, as weapons against the Sri Lankan Government, to stop any offensive operation against them in the North.

The ongoing debate on the MiG 27 deal carried out by the Opposition as a weapon against the Government is used by the LTTE in their favour as such situation definitely can make an impact on the morale of the Security Force.

Government's two way approach

Even politicians who are not in favour of military victories in the North and east are also making use of this issue for their political campaigns unaware of the fact that they have fallen in line with the LTTE campaign against the Security Forces.

However, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in a media interview extensively clarified the rationale behind selecting MiG 27 for the Sri Lanka Air Force. The Air Force Commander too in an earlier occasion too gave lengthy explanation about the MiG 27 deal. But there is a genuine question, as to why the interested parties are raising the issue again almost 10 months after the acceptance of the MiG 27 aircraft form the Ukrinmash Company by Air Force Commander at a time Security Forces are planning to launch their military operations in the Wanni.

The only thing that has not been clear enough is the repayment procedure for the purchase of MiG 27 aircraft. Therefore, the President has forwarded the matter to the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption while giving clearance to appoint a Parliament Select Committee to probe into MiG 27 deal.

This was to uphold the people's right to know, how the Government has spent public funds but not to entertain the objectives of the destructive elements who are fighting against the national interests putting the national security at a high risk. This was not the only campaign the LTTE involved in to discourage the Government to launch military offensive in Wanni. They too relentlessly campaigning against the Government engaged in a misinformation campaign highlighting a false human rights situation in the country.

Many political parties and organizations have fallen prey to this campaign and working in line with the LTTE campaign against the Government. However, the effective measures taken by the Government to arrest this situation has brought positive results.

The People's Action for Free and Fair Election (PAFFEREL) in an interim report indicated that there was a drastic drop in abductions, disappearances and other acts of Human Rights violations during the past few months.

Drop in abductions

The interim report pointed out that disappearances and abductions during July-August have dropped compared to the figures during May -June.

According to PAFFEREL the one man Commission to receive complaints of abductions and a special desk at the Presidential Secretariat directing investigations of such complaints have contributed in some way to this situation.

The action taken by the Police to arrest certain groups and individuals allegedly involved in abduction and extortions have also contributed to bring effective results in bringing down the number of abductions and killings.

However, these were not the only effort taken by the LTTE to discourage the Security Forces from commencing any military operation in the Wanni. The LTTE made yet another attempt to take the life of Army Commander Lt. General Sarath Fonseka on Tuesday.

The Army Commander was due to leave for Palaly for a conference at the Jaffna Security Forces Headquarters. He was due to go to the airport to take his flight to Palaly by an Air Force helicopter from the Defence Ministry ground around 7.30 am.

But the rainy weather conditions delayed the process of landing the chopper at the Defence Grounds and the Commander got into the AN-32 aircraft from Katunayake some 20 to 30 minutes late due to rainy weather conditions.

Some 20 minutes later the AN-32 aircraft carrying Army Commander Lt. General Sarath Fonseka and his delegation from the Katunayake airbase the pilot received urgent message from Palaly saying that the Palaly Air Base under LTTE artillery attack. It was around 8.45 a.m and was the scheduled time for the aircraft to land at the Palaly airport. The pilot was given instructions to take back the aircraft back to Katunayake air base and it landed at Katunayake air base at 9.15 am.

The Palaly Air Base came under LTTE artillery attack for more than 15 minutes and 18 artillery rounds each weighing 25 Kg had fallen inside the Palaly High Security Zone It is now clear that LTTE had directed the artillery fire towards the Palaly Air Base from the Kalmunai point the tip of Pooneryn.

Though it was their earlier practice to direct artillery rounds towards various gun positions within the Palaly High Security Zone this time they have directed all the artillery rounds towards the Air Base. But none of them had fallen on the tarmac of the airport.

Investigations have now revealed that the LTTE had targeted the landing of the air craft the Army Commander who was due to arrive in Palaly airbase to attend the conference that was to be held at Jaffna Security Forces Headquarters.

The LTTE has received information in advance but missed the target due to the delay of the flight due Army to Commanders arriving at Katunayake late due to the rainy weather condition. But they have failed to confirm whether the aircraft was landing at the airport exactly at the scheduled time.

The Army Commander has initiated an inquiry to identify the person who had given the tip off regarding his visit to Palaly and about the conference he was due to attend.

The civilian flights which were suspended due to this attack resumed the following day after Air Force fighter jets neutralising the LTTE artillery gun position at Kalmunai Point in Pooneryn with the support of the Multi Barrel Rocket Launchers positioned in Jaffna.

The incident very clearly indicate that the LTTE has not given up their plans to assassinate the Army Commander with their abortive attempt to take his life within the premises of the Army Headquarters on April 25, 2006, since their chances are very remote to reach him in Colombo.

If such attempt was successful they would definitely reach their objective from stopping the Government from commencing any military operation in the Wanni to take their strong hold under Security Forces control.

Army establish 57 divisions

However, they have failed obstructing the Security Forces from launching military operations in the Wanni as Army has already established 57 Division in Wanni to maintain the security situation and also to maintain law and order to prevent LTTE from obstructing the normal life style in the Wanni.

So far the Security Forces have been able to kill more than 1100 Tiger cadres during limited operations carried out in West of Vavuniya. The number of Tiger cadres killed during the skirmishes with the Army troops so far, exceeds the total number of Tiger cadres killed in the Eastern operations.

More than 100 Army personnel have also been killed during these limited operations. However, the limited operations carried out by the Army in the Wanni are not meant to take control of the land but to destroy the fighting capabilities of the LTTE.

The long Range Patrol commenced by the Special Forces in the West of Vavuniya has compelled the LTTE to use civilians as a shield to protect from pending attacks and to deploy them on road pickets to guard the roads to facilitate the movements of the Tiger leaders.

According to intelligence reports the LTTE is going entirely against the will of the Tamil community entrapped in Wanni by deploying them to construct bunkers against their wish thus preventing them from leaving Wanni in search of their freedom.

This was in addition to the internal rift now developing inside the LTTE hierarchy following its Sea Tiger leader Soosai facing unfortunate incident in Mullaitivu.

Reports indicate that he is still undergoing treatment at an Intensive Care Unit at a hospital in Kilinochchi and plans are now underway remove him from the Sea Tiger leadership.

However, the attempts by the LTTE to smuggle arms, ammunitions and fuel still continue with Sri Lanka Navy detecting many boats transporting fuel to non-liberated areas.

The arrest of fibre glass dingy transporting fuel to the LTTE in the sea off Pesalai by the Naval troops deployed for marshalling duty on August 22 was a clear indication that the LTTE is now under severe shortage of fuel.

There were 210 litres of diesel and 230 litres of kerosene on board the boat at the time of detection. The two suspects manning the FGD were residents of Pesalai and were engaged in transporting contraband fuel for the LTTE operating in the Vedithalativu area.

The FGD fitted with a 15 horse power out board engine and the two persons along with the fuel were handed over to the Police.

The Navy made this detection exactly 24 hours after the Indian Navy and Customs nabbed five Indian fishermen who had sold diesel to the LTTE terrorists.

According to Indian reports the racket has been unveiled when a joint patrolling party headed by Rajiv Kumar, Leading Patrol Man of Indian Navy based at Rameswaram seized a mechanised boat and arrested the five suspects with Sri Lankan currency, the reports said.

The suspects have reportedly been identified as S. Kumar (30), A. Paltha (45), F. Robert (23), S. Packiaraj (32) and A. Anbukilavan (24). The reports further said that the suspects are residents of Rameswaram and Thankatchimadam areas. Also the owner of the boat has been identified as Arulanandam of Verkodu area. The news reports further say that the Indian naval officials have been able to unravel the modus operandi of the LTTE terrorists in the racket.

According to the reports quoting Indian Navy officials, the terrorists meet with the Indian boats, said to be throwing empty cans at the boats, one by one for filling diesel. On their return, they would collect the filled cans in exchange for Sri Lankan currency.

According to the Navy the LTTE is undergoing severe shortage of fuel in the Wanni as all their access routes have been cut off by the Navy and also by the ground troops. The destruction of Seat Tiger boats and the fuel storage facilities in the Wanni in air strikes have had made adverse effects on the LTTE.

Therefore, the assistance from the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard is mostly welcome at this stage to starve the LTTE of arms and ammunition since the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Strait was the only means for the LTTE to depend on their supplies.

As claimed by the Sri Lankan Navy the Indian fishermen poaching on Sri Lanka territorial waters have been exploited by the LTTE to fulfil their requirements.

But the Sri Lanka Navy has been courteous enough to extend their support for these Indian fishermen at various instances despite the disadvantageous situation they have to face in controlling terror activities of the LTTE due to the presence of Indian fishermen in the Sri Lankan territorial waters.

Apart from these attempts the LTTE too making desperate attempts to infiltrate into the fully liberated East to organise themselves to create problematic situation in the province to disrupt the development drive launched by the Government.

The constant alertness of the Security Forces and the Police could foil all these attempts by the LTTE. The arrest of the LTTE's former "Police Chief" in Sampur was one such incident of the attempts made by the LTTE to infiltrate into Government control areas. The suspect identified as Kalimutthu Vinodkumar aged 29 years was arrested by the Harbour Police at a roadblock in Trincomalee on August 23.

Therefore, the continuous alertness not only of the Security Forces and the Police but also of the general public will be needed to prevent the LTTE achieving its task.