Iceland jigsaw puzzle

Two-pronged attack on West of Omanthai, South of Mannar

The situation is now tense in Wanni. Both the Security Forces and the LTTE is now in head on collision course in their efforts to defend their positions defences in the Wanni from any infiltrations in this crucial land mass estimated to be around 6,000 square kilometres as it has now become the decisive factor in the North East conflict.

Many confrontations were reported in the defence lines in the West of Omanthai from Vavuniya to Mannar during the week in Vilathikulam, Pokkarawani, Thampanai, Periyathampanai areas. As the situation in the Wanni was discussed at the Security Council that met on Wednesday, the attention was drawn towards a picture pasted on the LTTE Peace Secretariat website.

The picture depicted an Icelandic Foreign Ministry official meeting LTTE Political Wing leader S. P. Thamilselvan in Killinochchi.

According to the news pasted on the website Bjarni Vestman had met Thamilselvan.

Both the Ministry of Defence, Foreign Ministry and the Peace Secretariat officials were not aware of such a visit by Icelandic Foreign Ministry official to meet the LTTE. Later it was found that the head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) had infact, escorted the Icelandic official who had arrived in Sri Lanka on tourist visa to meet the LTTE leaders.

The Foreign Ministry made a strong protest to the Foreign Ministry of Iceland compelling them to tender an apology to the Sri Lankan Government about the unofficial visit made by the Iceland diplomat to Killinochchi.

Thanks to the photograph that was published in the LTTE Peace Secretariat web, for enlightening the Sri Lankan authorities about this visit. If not for the photograph pasted on the website, the clandestine meeting would have remained a secret to the Government and also to the Security Forces who normally let the vehicles of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission to pass through checkpoints without any formal checking.

The issue should not be taken lightly in the context of the present security situation of the country. If any mistake was done on the part of the Government the situation would have been a much worse one with many international agencies questioning the Government on such issues. On the other hand the SLMM has breached the faith placed on them by escorting a person to Killinochchi without prior notice to the Government and arranging meetings with the LTTE. Though the objective of the Icelandic diplomat was not clear the issue has to be taken at the highest level as such type of incidents could threaten the sovereignty of the country.

The most alarming thing is that even the SLMM was not aware of the agenda of the Icelandic diplomat though they had escorted him Killinochchi via Omanthai check point.

According to sources the Icelandic diplomat has now departed from Colombo after the embarrassing situation.

The Government also has raised the matter with two truce monitors of SLMM in the Northern region were challenged by the Security Forces at the Omanthai entry exit point.

The troops manning the Omanthai check point stopped SLMM vehicle heading towards Killinochchi on Thursday at 9.45 a.m. and asked for the letter authorising them to proceed towards Killinochchi. As they were not given permission to proceed towards Killinochchi they were turned away by the troops manning the check point.

However, again at 10.45 a.m. two SLMM vehicles turned up at Omanthai to proceed towards Killinochchi. Again, the two SLMM officers from the Northern region office and two technical officers were stopped at the Omanthai entry/exit point as they had no authority to proceed towards Killinochchi.

The SLMM Chief Larsj Solverg raised the issue with the Peace Secretariat Chief Prof. Rajiva Wijesinghe on Friday. At this discussion the SLMM have apparently agreed for security checkings if needed by the Security Forces.

Government Defence Affairs Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella on Friday announced that SLMM officials will be subjected to security checks as they have gone beyond the mandate given to them.

The same type of incident occurred last year in Batticaloa with attempts made by the SLMM Chief in Batticaloa making an attempt to take UN Special Envoy Alan Rock to Vakarai without any authority from the Government.

However, those attempts were thwarted by the Security Forces by preventing them from proceeding towards Vakarai.

The most serious issue raised through this type of incidents is the threat to the sovereignty of the country by escorting people towards LTTE held areas without any approval from the Government. On the other hand they are risking their own security by entering the areas where intense battles were going on these days between the Security Forces and the LTTE.There are several possibilities to develop these situations into serious situations as the LTTE too awaits for such situations to get out of the current mess they are now faced with in the Wanni.

The situation in Wanni has turned into a fairly a sensitive one with many battles have erupted along the defences in the West of Omanthai. With Security Forces becoming more active in their defences to prevent LTTE infiltrations they are confronting large number of Tiger groups ahead of their FDLs.

The infantry battalions attached to the 57 Division of the Sri Lanka Army based in Kalmadu and the troops attached to the Task Force - I are now hitting the Tiger front lines in the West of Omanthai and North of Mannar inflicting heavy casualties to the LTTE.

It is obvious that it is not a cakewalk for the infantrymen in the frontlines to go ahead and hit the strong points of the LTTE. They face stiff resistance from the Tiger cadres as the LTTE has deployed their reserve battalions in their FDLs to face the troops moving in to their territory to neutralize their strong points.

The LTTE having confused by the method of attack by the troops has now been compelled to fire mortar towards the areas where they suspect the troops were operating. The indiscriminate mortar fire has caused casualties among the troops of the 57 Division, but most of these injuries are not of serious nature.

Many of them are returning to the battlefront after few days of treatment at hospitals to continue the battle which they think is a winnable one according to the ground situation. So far there had been no incident to affect the high morale of the infantrymen in the frontline as they are willing go ahead of their defences to neutralize the Tiger strong points and gun positions.

One thing that has to be done is that they should be given support from the air destroying all possible artillery positions located in the Wanni, as such fire definitely pose a threat to the infantry battalions if they move in to Wanni with the intention of capturing the area.

If the SLAF can do the neutralising of artillery positions of the LTTE, the path will definitely be cleared for the ground troops to move into the Wanni territory to liberate the remaining population there in the Wanni from the grip of the LTTE.

The use of air power at its maximum without allowing the LTTE to move their artillery guns and other military hardware to areas that may hinder the advancing of the troops into Wanni can make the task before the infantrymen easy.

The basic idea of the Security Forces is to attract more Tiger cadres into their defences and inflict heavy casualties to the Tiger cadres prior to making attempt to take control of the areas in Wanni. On the part of the Security Forces they need enough strength to hold the areas captured by the infantrymen.

The Army is now preparing their troops to face the challenge with the successful recruitment drive, they have launched during the past few months.The SLAF too has been fulfilling their role by inflicting heavy damages to the LTTE military installations in the Wanni and also their Sea Tiger facilities. The LTTE is still keeps mum on the air attack on one of their VIP hide-outs in Vishvamadhu.The long silence on the part of the LTTE is pretty unusual as they used to raise their voice through international media if the damage is negligible.

But the deep silence suggests that the LTTE had heavily suffered with one of their most senior leader injured or dead.

The SLAF is having video footage of the attack taken from the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) which very clearly indicates that the target the pilots had taken was a very precise one. The SLAF had observed an unusual reaction on the part of the LTTE towards this attack as they have turned away all the vehicles that reached the Vishvamadhu hide-out, according to a video footage of the SLAF.

According to the video footage the LTTE had even stopped a van supposed to be an ambulance carrying a flag after the air interdiction.

Though the LTTE claimed that only a few houses were destroyed and one person was killed due to the air attack, the number of casualties is much higher than what was claimed by the LTTE.

According to Security Forces their communication networks are still not functioning in the Wanni as they have not heard any conversation among the Tiger cadres for the past few days. Unofficial reports from the Wanni, however, confirmed that the LTTE had suffered heavy casualties.

This was the second devastating air attack on the LTTE in Vishvamadhu within one week. Even when the LTTE meeting place in Vishvamadhu was attack on September 28, they did not make any comment about the casualties, while the SLAF had credible information about the damages caused to the LTTE.

However, continued air raids on Vishvamadhu, considerably a large area in the North of Puthukuduiruppu in the Mullaitivu district where LTTE activities were in full swing, causing major damages to one of their improvised explosive devices manufacturing factories. Though the LTTE kept silent on the setback a death notice about the LTTE Laboratory Chief, Puttoli in the pro-LTTE website few day after the incident, confirmed the fact that their IED manufacturing facility has been damaged in the air attack.

As the Wanni situation was heading towards a more tense situation, a stage that is not favourable for a peaceful situation in the East also now developing in the Eastern province.

According to reliable sources a group of terrorists have infiltrated the Pachchanoor area in Mutur in Trincomalee. More search operations are now being conducted to nab those cadres hiding in the Peraru jungles. The situation should be brought under control immediately to ensure the peaceful situation in the East at a time troops are making effort to capture Wanni.

Even in the Jaffna peninsula the LTTE raising its head by inducting more cadres into the peninsula via the islands by various other means.

Under this circumstances the Security Forces have to be more alert as the LTTE is waiting for chance to take control of Jaffna as it was the best way to have a morale boost for their cadres.

However, intense search operations conducted by the troops in the peninsula have made it difficult for the LTTE to operate around Jaffna. Due to this situation many Tiger cadres and supporters are now surrendering to the Human Rights Commission in Jaffna to come under the security of a remand prison. According to Security Forces over 170 LTTE supporters have surrendered during the past few weeks as they want to escape from Tiger pressures to engage in violent activities against the Security Forces.

With these developments the Colombo Security has also become priority as the possibilities are very high for the LTTE to plant bombs or target VIPs in Colombo to prevent the Security Forces from capturing their strong hold in the Wanni.

The recovery of bombs and other explosives in and around Colombo indicate that LTTE is preparing for violent acts in Colombo as they get the beating from the Security Forces.

Therefore, the Security Forces and the Police should be on red alert specially during this period as it would help the Security Forces to engage in operations in Wanni to concentrate their attention towards that situation.

No room should be allowed for the Tiger to take chances in accomplishing their plans in Colombo by risking city security at this juncture by conducting protest campaigns thus blocking the city roads, like what happened last Thursday.

The Tiger outfit will take these chances without any hesitation as they are awaiting for such situations in Colombo in support of their terror plans.

Therefore the people must conscious about the Tiger plans be supportive of the Security Plans in Colombo without making disturbances by resolving their problems through negotiations.