Troops clear all barriers leading to Kilinochchi

* Troops Just four and half Km to Killinochchi

*  57 Troops poised to cut off A-9 from Kokavil

* 58 Division capture vital section of huge earth bund

*  59 Division completes their operations in Andankulam forest reserve

* Troops making their way spending sleepless nights to foil LTTE counter attacks

Lt. Colonel Senaka Wijesuriya, the Commanding Officer of the 11 Sri Lanka Light Infantry Batallion.	Lt. Colonel Senerath Bandara,572 Brigade Commander.	Brigadier Shavendra Silva, General Officer Command of the 58th Division. Pix: Rukmal Gamage

The battles in the Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts are becoming more intense as troops are now continuing with their final phases of the battle to capture these two Tiger strongholds with LTTE also making desperate attempts to defend these strongholds which would decide the destiny of the LTTE forever.

Army Commander Lt. General Sarath Fonseka vows to defeat the LTTE forever this time with the blessings of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s administration and also with the immense support extended by the Sri Lanka Air Force and Sri Lanka Navy along with the Police and Civil Defence Force.

Many who are concern about the situation in Sri Lanka now have been convinced that the Security Forces are not running after mirage, but on a realistic approach to defeat LTTE terrorism which had engulfed this country for the past two and half decades barring the country specially the people in the North East from enjoying their basic rights.

The Security Forces have achieved these successes bringing the North East war which is aimed at defeating LTTE terrorism with the same batch of Security Forces who fought the same battle for the past two and half decades but with a correct leadership both military and politically which had displayed their genuine commitment to see an end to this problem forever.

It was not a statement to appease the leadership but the genuine concern of the soldiers who are now fighting fiercest battles in the two and half decades conflict in the country.

Of course, it was due to the genuine commitment from both political and military leadership to the soldiers in the battlefront have been motivated them to face such a fierce battle in the Killinochchi and Mullaitivu disregarding the imminent threat to their lives and sacrificing their whole future towards their motherland.

At the same time, unlike in the past, the Security Forces are not fighting with an old fashioned guerrilla movement as the LTTE existed a decade ago, but with a well equipped Tiger outfit with conventional fighting capabilities with long range artilleries and other sophisticated weaponry.

But the real threat is coming not due to their conventional methods of fighting but due to their unconventional methods of fighting disregarding the internationally accepted methods of fighting with the use of anti personnel mines manufactured using high explosives mixing cyanide and also by launching gas attacks to thwart the advance of the troops into their final stronghold.

But none of these brutal unconventional modes of fighting could thwart the advance of the troops towards their desired destinations.

It was in the face of such a situation that the troops attached to 58 and 57 Divisions have been operating in the Killinochchi front engaged in fierce battle risking their lives and limbs and spending sleepless nights to exert maximum pressure on the LTTE continuously.

Within this week the troops attached to the three major offensive fronts 57 Division under the command of Major General Jagath Dias, 58 Division under the Command of Brigadier Shavendra Silva and 59 Division operating under the command of Brigadier Nandana Udawatta, cleared their path towards reaching their final goals to enter Killinochchi and Mullaitivu.

It was last Monday that the troops attached to the 57 Division completed one of the tactical moves towards East of Akkarayankulam Tank changing their axis of advance towards Killinochchi in a sudden move. This sudden change in the pattern of the advance put the LTTE in a more desperate situation compelling them to fight to tooth and nail to defend their ground.

Fierce battles continued in Akkarayankkulam East as the LTTE launched barrages of artillery and mortar towards the advancing troops whilst facing the troops in a face to face battle and launching counter attacks one after the other to recapture their lost terrain.

Amidst heavy resistance and with a considerable number of soldiers sacrificing their lives in the fierce battles, the troops attached to 57 Division, advanced six kilometers east of Akkaraynakulam. Their advance towards the East of Akkarayankulam was a major blow as the LTTE is facing two crisis situations with this.

One of the major disadvantageous situations the LTTE is facing at this moment is the troop advance into Jaffna-Kandy A-9 Road from Kokavil direction. At present troops attached to the 57 Division is operating almost hugging the A-9 Road for the first time in the one and half years long Wanni operations despite the dominance of the A-9 Road up to Omanthai from the South and up to Muhamalai from the North.

The 57 Division is now controlling the area surrounding Kokavil Rupavahini tower area in their bid to cut off the links between Omanthai and Kilinochchi at a time the LTTE wanted to have links along this route. Whilst 572 Brigade under the command of Lt. Colonel Senerath Bandara is trying their best to capture Kokavil the troops attached to the 573 Brigade under the command of Lt. Colonel Prathap Thillekeratne are advancing towards Mankulam on the Mallavi-Mankulam road to hit the A-9 Road from Mankulam.

Tigers are going to be deprived of huge terrain with these tactical moves by the Security Forces as troops can take the entire area from Omanthai to Kokavil after cutting off the LTTE supplies towards Omanthai.

The second disadvantageous fact the LTTE is facing now is that they are losing the control of the civilian population who had been temporarily sheltered in Iranamadu and South of Killinochchi as they started fleeing towards Puthukuduiruppu and Vishvamadu area following the fierce battle that erupted in Kokavil and East of Akkaraynakulam during the past few days.

The LTTE suffered heavy casualties during these battles with dozens of these Tiger cadres killed during these confrontations. The Security Forces too suffered considerable number of casualties whilst more than ten soldiers sacrificed their lives during the battle to capture this area in the East of Akkarayankulam.

But their sacrifices became fruitful as troops have further closed into the Killinochchi town by yesterday as they are now operating just four and half Kilometers away from their next target.

As troops attached to the 57 Division advanced towards A-9 Road and further towards Kilinochchi troops attached to the 58 Division or the Task Force I now operating in the Killinochchi district achieved a major victory after capturing more than 1.5 Kilo metres of stretch of huge earth bund which had been constructed from Nachchikuda to Akkarayan extending for more than 24 Kilo metres.

The vital stretch of this earth bund in Karambakulam in the West of Vannerikulam and East of Nachchikuda was captured on Wednesday morning around 8 a.m. with troops attached to 11 Sri Lanka Light Infantry Battalion under the command of Lt. Colonel Senaka Wijesuriya, 10 Gajaba Regiment under the command of Major Sameera and 9 Gemunu Watch Battalion under the command of Lt. Colonel Lal Chandrasiri.

This vital earth bund has been heavily booby trapped by the LTTE as they feared troops advance into Killinochchi from this direction since it was the 58 Division troops who first entered the Kilinochchi District border after completely liberating the Mannar District.

The troops of the 58 Division is now controlling more than 3 Kilo metres stretch of earth bund in Karambakulam and Vannerikulam West after two days of fighting which is vital.

It was after sacrificing the lives of ten soldiers and another 30 soldiers sustaining injuries the 58 Division achieved this success. The soldiers on the battlefront brave all the booby traps and mine fields of the LTTE advancing one after the other whilst observing their colleagues getting injured caught in AP mines. They showed maximum commitment towards capturing this earth bund which stood as major barrier towards their advance towards North.

The main aim of the troops was to effect maximum LTTE killings during this offensive operation and they achieved that task also killing more than 40 Tiger cadres during this battle and foiling their numerous attempts to recapture this terrain.

The 11 Sri Lanka Light Infantry Battalion under the command of Lt. Colonel Senaka Wijesuriya captured seven Tiger Bunkers during this battle. That was the final operation Lt. Colonel Senaka Wijesuriya faced in the Killinochchi battlefront as he is due to take over the command of the 222 Brigade in Kantale as a Brigade Commander after facing the first offensive operation of the LTTE foiling their attempt to overrun Kattaparichchan Army detachment on August 01, 2006 and serving in the 57 Division from the beginning.Meanwhile, troops attached to the 59 Division under the command of Brigadier Nandana Udawatta, also advanced into a vital area in the South of Mullaitivu after completing their missions in the Andankulam forest reserve after capturing two Tiger bases within the past three days and capturing huge earth bund constructed across the open terrain in the South of Nayaru.

With these advances troops are now in a position to pose a major threat to the LTTE Mullaitivu front too. With heavy pressures exert ed on all four offensive fronts including that of the Task Force II operating in the West of A-9 Road from Mundimurippu area the Tiger outfit is not in a position to face the immense pressure on them and running out of cadres to be deployed to defend Kilinochchi.

To face the threat on Killinochchi both from the 57 and 58 Divisions the LTTE is bringing cadres even from the Muhamalai front disregarding the risk on the Muhamalai front.

Amidst this situation by last Wednesday almost all the NGOs including UN agencies pulled out of Wanni with all their assets. The only exception is the International committee of Red Cross which has been given permission to operate in uncleared areas in Wanni under certain conditions. They have given permission to move into uncleared areas to hand over LTTE bodies and also bring the bodies of the Security Forces captured by the LTTE during confrontations.

The Government will put restrictions on the ICRC when transporting drugs into uncleared areas as possibilities are very high that the LTTE would make use of these drugs for their purposes.

What is most important here is that except for few adverse comments there were no protests by the international community when the Government called all the NGOs and INGOs out of the uncleared areas.

From the Government side there was very good explanation for the withdrawal of the NGOs and INGOs from Wanni which cannot be challenged by any organization. Even at the UN Human Rights Council which was held in Geneva this week and attended by the Secretary to Disaster Management and Human Rights Ministry, non of the countries have raised any concern about the Government’s decision to withdraw aid workers from uncleared areas.

Apart from this situation the Government also achieved in a bigger way with taking the civilian populations contribution towards the war with the increase of their vigilance towards the LTTE’s attempts to create carnage in the South. The conductor and the driver of the Mattakkuliya depot CTB bus set a good example to the country by taking timely action by paying attention towards an unattended parcel within the bus and later taking the bus into a safer place.

Therefore, it was a good indication the whole country is now behind the Forces effort to eliminate terrorism from the country and reached its best time to defeat and eliminate LTTE terrorism from the Sri Lankan soils.