Public should be vigilant to thwart LTTE attacks on civilians

The intense media campaigns by defence authorities and also by the media to keep the public on red alert against desperate Tiger attacks seems to be futile with the bomb blast in Dambulla yesterday although there are satisfactory security measures taken in Colombo in preparation for the 60th Independence Day celebrations.

Yesterday's bomb blast in Dambulla again proved the fact that public had not taken these warnings seriously or disregarded these as rubbish. The thing that has to be emphasized here is that it were the innocent civilians who had become the victims of these ruthless bombings of the Tiger cadres due to less attention being paid towards their safety especially during this decisive period.

Though it is premature to come to a conclusion regarding the bomb blast at Dambulla bus stand killing at least 20 civilians and injuring more than 50 civilians, again we can come to a conclusion that it would have happened due to less attention being paid by the passengers, who were on their way to Anuradhapura to attend a special Pooja in the sacred Ruwanweli Seya.

It has been revealed that the blast had occurred when the bus NA-0284 was about to leave Dambulla bus stand taking the last passenger from Dambulla at 7.10 a.m. Taken into consideration the damage caused to the bus it is apparent that it could have been a bomb which exploded inside the bus.

Eye witness accounts indicates that it was two suspicious persons who had got into the bus from Matale had got down from the bus from Naula after keeping a parcel inside the bus.

Many of the injured passengers and the bystanders were rushed immediately to the Dambulla,Matale, Kurunegala and Kandy hospitals. If we look back at the year 2007 it was a similar type of incident in which a number of civilians were killed at two separate bomb blasts in Nittambuwa and Seenigma, Hikkaduwa in January.

The public in this country was alerted over and over again about these desperate Tiger attempts to target civilians especially after these two bomb blasts at a time they were being defeated in the Eastern front. One can imagine the desperation of the LTTE at a time they are being suppressed from four fronts in Vavuniya, Mannar, Weli Oya and Jaffna.

The most recent incident at Nugegoda taught a number of lessons to the public on how they should react to prevent possibilities for the Tiger cadres to target civilians and other vital locations in the South.

It was due to carelessness of the public and also due to shortsighted acts of the public as well as the security officials at Nugegoda that dozens of civilians had to sacrifice their lives for a merciless bomb kept by a suspicious person aiding the course of action of the Tiger outfit.

The bomb blast in Dambulla again provides an opportunity for the public to be more vigilant about the current situation and to think wisely whether they should spoil the efforts taken by the Security Forces to defeat terrorism in the country sacrificing their lives and limbs for the by ignoring the attempts by the LTTE to create mayhem in the South.

Many can interpret the bomb blast in Dambulla as a reaction of the LTTE towards the claymore mine explosion in Palampiddy in Madhu area on Tuesday.

The LTTE declared that it was an act of the Deep Penetration Units of the Army. They identified the victims as innocent school children.

But it was apparent that LTTE was transporting these children who had undergone Makkal Padai training in Canter trucks to man their FDLs in Madhu area due to the acute shortage of manpower for the LTTE.

Therefore, they should realise the fact that they have taken the lives of these innocent civilians, the school children as claimed by the LTTE, after embarked them on a military mission packed them on canter trucks deployed on FDLs.

According to sources from Wanni two LTTE cadres on motor bicycles were escorting them to the Madhu area.

It has also been reported that there had been public outrage against the LTTE leadership in Wanni especially to Bhanu and Swaranam who are leading the Tiger cadres in Mannar and Vavuniya sectors. According to reports they have been beaten by the public there once they saw they were visiting the location soon after the incident.

It was once again a reminiscence of the fact that occurred in Chencholai in which the LTTE risked preyed the lives of innocent school girls by dumping them in their military bases for weapon training.

It was after this incident the LTTE carried out an intense false media campaign to cover up their side of the story. But LTTE no longer can hoodwink their own people and also the international community as the entire world is aware of the tactics followed by the LTTE.

Therefore, there is a sharp difference between the incident that had taken placer in Madhu area and in Dambulla as the civilians got killed in the Dambulla bus stand had no connection with the military operations in the North and East.

Instead, many of these victims were proceeding to Anuradhapura to attend a special religious ceremony which has no connection with the military operations in the Wanni.

Though it seems the LTTE has selected the locations randomly, in other parts of the country they had selected this specific bus in which a large number of Buddhists were travelling to Anuradhapura to attend the annual Pichchamal pooja most probably to instigate ethnic backlash in the country which is most welcome by the LTTE at this moment.

However, it is evident though there is no pattern to their activities, they are very careful in selecting their targets to paralyse the smooth functioning of the South and bring about chaos.

First they launched their terror campaign killing Colombo district UNP MP T. Maheshwaran at the dawn of the year 2008. Once again they launched a claymore attack targeting a bus transporting Army patients in Slave Island Colombo.

Then they assassinated Nation Building Minister D.M. Dassanayake at Rukmani Devi junction in Ja-Ela triggering off claymore mine targeting the vehicles of the Minister as he was arriving in Colombo to attend parliamentary proceedings.

Then they terrorized the people in the South by triggering off a claymore mine in Okkampitiya and firing at the civilians who escaped from the bomb blast.

The innocent Sinhala civilians engaged in chena cultivation in the Moneragala districts were mercilessly killed by these Tiger cadres taking cover from the thick jungle patches in Moneragala district.

Once Security Forces were concentrating on the security situation in the South they went into action in Jaffna on Thursday killing innocent Tamil civilians in Thinnaveli.

They have opted to launch this brutal act targeting a civilian bus in Dambulla at a time Security Forces were focusing their attention concentrating on the security situation in Colombo which is preparing to celebrate the 60th Independence Day on a grand scale.

Therefore, it is apparent though they are selective in their targets they have to select the places very carefully observing the security lapses and lesser public vigilance.

So it is incumbent on the public to act with greater responsibility to avert these incidents and strength in the hands of the Security Forces at this decisive moment as the Tigers are desperately trying to create a mayhem especially in Colombo during the Independence Day celebrations.

There are indications to prove that the LTTE had deployed a large number of Tiger cadres in and around Colombo and were in the process of transporting explosives and suicide jackets to Colombo to accomplish their task.

But many of these attempts have been made futile by the alerted security Forces and Police operating in and around Colombo due to the increased public support and the advanced intelligence network they are having.

The Wattala Police with the support of the Civil Defence Force yesterday recovered two suicide jackets, six timers, one remote controller, eight 9 V batteries, eight detonators, two boosters and 9 kg of explosives from Mabole, Wattala.

On January 31, during search operations conducted by the Army and Police 4 more suicide jackets and another belt order were recovered from the bag that contained explosives in lagoon area in Kalpitiya in Puttalam.

These recoveries indicate that they are in the process of preparing for carnage in the South at a time they are facing bigger defeats in the Wanni with the fall of crucial locations in the Mannar and Vavuniya sectors.

The main focus of the LTTE is about defending their territories in Mannar and Vavuniya as fall of these strategic locations will definitely pave way for them to further retreat towards their strong holds in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu.

One of the key locations they are now concentrating in Mannar and Vavuniya sector is the Madhu shrine area. It was in this area they were trying to increase their strength by deploying even school children after providing them with basic weapon training.

These innocent civilians have no other option other than following the orders of the LTTE and man these defences until the Security Forces advanced to these areas.

The Security Forces operating in these two fronts, through the intercepted radio transmissions of the LTTE have heard these innocent cadres being fired from their rear if they are not facing the Security Forces. Therefore, they have to somehow scrawl towards the Security Forces side since they cannot survive at the hand of the LTTE leadership.

But strong indications are emanating from the Wanni about emerging public protest against the LTTE leadership in Wanni due to their merciless attitude towards the civilian population living there under immense hardships.

It was due to this situation large numbers of people were fleeing from Tiger held areas to take refuge with the Security Forces held areas in Mannar and Vavuniya.

Their main objective is to protect their children from the LTTE and to lead a free live san harassments. Nine LTTE cadres surrendered to the Security Forces at Murunkan road block.

Eight of them surrendered on Friday and the other on Thursday. The surrenders ages range from 61, 52,35,32,28,27,24,23 and 17. They confessed they could no longer bear the harassments from the members of the organization. Some of them escaped via Giant Yoda tank.

Earlier on Tuesday, a seven member family escaped from Iluppakadaweli in Vedithalthivu surrendered to the Security Forces in Mannar to lead a better life under the protection of the security forces protecting their children from the LTTE.

Therefore, it is increasingly evident that the LTTE no longer can control even the remaining number of civilians with them as the people are aware that they will definitely be defeated at the hand of the Security Forces.

Army to make changes in the high ranking positions

The Army Commander has recommended to the Secretary Defence to make changes in the high ranking officers in the Army with immediate effect. According to sources Major General Nissanka Wijesinghe is tipped to be appointed as the Chief of Staff of the Army instead of Major General Lawrence Fernando who is now occupying the post.

Major General Lawrence Fernando is going to be appointed as the Commandant of the Volunteer Force Headquarters with these changes. Major General Mendaka Samarasinghe will be appointed as the head of Colombo Security which was earlier handled by Major General Lawrence Fernando.

Major General L.A.D. Amaratunga is tipped to be appointed as the Director General Staff of the Army Headquarters, the post earlier held by Major General Mendaka Samarasinghe.

Brigadier Mahinda Haturusinghe will be appointed to fill the vacant post of Operations Commander Colombo. These appointments are yet to be approved by the President as the Commander in Chief and the Minister of Defence.