Buoyed forces in final thrust

As pre- North Eastern monsoonal rains lashed the battlefront in Wanni the Security Forces brought the battle into one of its turning points in its decisive final phase advancing into vital Tiger locations in the Kilinochchi District putting the Tiger outfit on the back foot in the Wanni liberation operation.

It was a week that gave a hard time for the LTTE as they wearily moved their cadres from one front to the other in their desperate bid to keep all their defences intact but failed in their effort as troops took full control of the battle with their tactical moves.

The Task Force -I or the 58 Division troops made remarkable progress in Kilinochchi West front to take control of the North Western coast under their control after cutting off the Mannar Pooneryn A-32 road from the North of Nachchikuda putting the LTTE cadres operating in one of the few Sea Tiger bases remaining in the North Western coast into an embarrassingly tight corner.

On Friday troops attached to 583 Brigade under the command of Lt.Colonel Suraj Banshajaya hit the A-32 road from the North of Nachchikuda depriving the LTTE of a vital section of the A-32 road which could feed the Tiger cadres operating in Nachchikuda from their links with the interior parts of Kilinochchi.

This move by the troops brought the battle in the Western part of Kilinochchi front into one of its decisive phases soon after the capture of the huge earth bund constructed from Nachchikuda to Akkarayankulam to stall the advance of the troops further Northwards towards Pooneryn.

Therefore, the LTTE has once again been compelled to seriously think of this battle front too apart from their main concentration of defending their de-facto capital Kilinochchi town.

On one hand, they have to abandon Nachchikuda Sea Tiger base which they were defending after deploying all their resources and having constructed huge earth bund to delay the advance of the troops without any battle.

On the other hand, they are losing a vital section of land area in the North Western coast

Apart from this, troops are also now in position to control the Tiger activities in Valaipadu Sea Tiger base from which the LTTE used to unload arms and ammunition to strengthen their diminishing stocks.

The Tiger efforts taken to defend these vital Tiger installations by constructing huge earth bunds, has become futile as troops have overcome all these obstacles to achieve their task.

Troops of the 58 Division made this tactical move after breaking the earth bund from Karambakulam area and further advanced northward after opening a 5.5 km front from Pandiveddikulam to Vannerikulam. By this Friday troops advanced 5 kilo metres northwards from the earth bund in Karambakulam and taken full control of the Manniyakulam area which had catered to link vital Tiger fronts together.

After capturing the A-32 road from North of Nachchikuda, troops also moved towards Jayapuram village which has been strongly defended by the LTTE deploying elite Imran Pandyan cadres, the cream of the fighting cadres of the LTTE.

Fierce fighting erupted in the outskirts of Jayapuram village this week as LTTE posed stiff resistance to the advancing troops.

As troops of the 58 Division are heading towards Pooneryn, the troops of the 57 Division are also making slow but steady advance toward the vital Kilinochchi town from the South Western direction.

They are now operating just 1.6 Km South West of Kilinochchi town. The distance has been calculated from the forward defences of the Security Forces in the South West of Kilinochchi to the outskirts of the Kilinochchi town.

The 572 Brigade is poised to capture the earth bund which has been constructed by the LTTE to create another buffer zone to the Kilinochchi town, so as to advance into the Kilinochchi town from the South Western direction whilst troops attached to the 571 Brigade are confronting the LTTE in the North and West of Akkaraynakulam.

Like Jayapuram village in the Western part of the Kilinochchi District, LTTE is also strongly defending the Akkarayan village located South West of Kilinochchi town.

The LTTE is keeping this village as a buffer zone to Kilinochchi and defending it very strongly as they are aware that the capture of this village by the troops will definitely pave the way for the fall of Kilinochchi and also enable the troops to advance further towards Pooneryn - Paranthan road.

The LTTE is now facing difficulties such as, acute shortage of man power to deploy for bunker duties. They are facing this problem in the Muhamalai and Kilali defence line as they have shifted their cadres to the Kilinochchi front to stop the advancement of troops into Kilinochchi.

The troops operating in the Kilali front observed this situation and found that Tigers were not manning all the bunkers on the defence line on regular basis due to the shortage of cadres.

Amidst this situation, the troops attached to the Air Mobile Brigade captured a number of bunkers in Avarikadu area south of A-9 road and held these bunkers for more than two days.

The Tiger cadres returned to these bunkers only after two days. They noticed the presence of the troops in their bunkers once they were fired upon by the troops holding the bunker line.

Heavy fighting erupted along this stretch of bunker line on Wednesday night as LTTE too confronted the troops. Fierce fighting continued for more than 12 hours till 1 pm on Thursday. Over 15 Tiger cadres were confirmed killed in this confrontation including two team leaders.

It is believed that over 40 Tiger cadres have perished in the battle as casualties were evacuated in ten vehicles to Kilinochchi during this battle.

Though troops strongly hold the first line of the LTTE in the Kilali sector they withdrew back to their defences as LTTE continued their mortar attacks targeting their own defence line.

Three soldiers were also killed and 15 injured during this battle.That incident was a clear indication that the LTTE is facing severe shortage of man power at this stage of the battle and is not in a position to face the onslaught of the Security Forces for long as they are fast losing international support too.

What is left for the LTTE is to engage in delaying tactics; to delay the certain defeat they are going to face in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu in the final battle that in now on in Wanni.

That is why the LTTE is trying to hang on to Tamil Nadu politicians who are trying to score out of the Sri Lankan situation to strengthen their Tamil vote base for the upcoming general elections in India, to come out of the situation.

Though it seems that South Indian politicians are pressurizing the centre to stop the military thrust on the LTTE in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu, at a time certain defeat is looming for the LTTE, a same type of pressure is also on the Indian Government not to bow down to politicians backing LTTE terrorism which has had a major impact on Indian politics during the past two decades.

As President Mahinda Rajapaksa very clearly stated in his recent media interviews, military offensives are not at all aimed at the Tamils but against the LTTE which has become an obstacle to the ethnic community and the development of the country.

He has also communicated to the Indian Government that all precautionary measures have been taken to ensure the safety of the Tamil civilians entrapped in the Wanni and for the Indian Government to urge the LTTE to enter into mainstream politics as all avenues are now open for them to settle for a political solution.

The type of pressure to the central Government of India by disgruntled politicians in Tamil Nadu can be understood considering the ground realities in the Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu battlefronts.

The LTTE is fixed to a situation akin to what they faced during the Vadamarachchi operation in 1987 in which the LTTE was about to be crushed by the Security Forces in all fronts. The Indian intervention to the North East conflict in 1987 came amidst such a situation.

But things have changed so fast under the present context as for the first time the Government has taken steps to establish democracy in the Eastern Province with the establishment of the Eastern Provincial Council with the election of militant turned politician Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan as Chief Minister.

Apart from that, one time militant renegade Eastern commander Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman has also been appointed as a Member of Parliament representing the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance Government led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

President Rajapaksa has also invited Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran to lay down arms and join the democratic path at the All Party Conference held last week, aimed at finding a political solution to the North East conflict.So, on the part of the Government a conducive atmosphere has been set up to go for a political solution to the North East conflict with all avenues open for the LTTE to enter the democratic framework giving up violence and without preying on more cadres to the battlefront in the face of a certain defeat.

As the situation so prevails, pressure should be exerted on the LTTE, but not the Government of Sri Lanka as it engaged in a task of eliminating one of the ruthless terror outfits which is ready to use its cadres as human bombs violating the basic human rights of the Tamil community which they represent.

What the international community and the Indian Government should understand at this juncture is that the LTTE is not concerned about the plight of the Tamil civilians entrapped in Wanni and exerting pressure on Tamil Nadu politicians to raise their voice about the civilians as there is no other way for them to escape from certain defeat.

On the other hand, the Tigers have been isolated internationally with all governments extending their support towards the Sri Lankan Government's efforts to eradicate terrorism.

The Government of Russia also extended its fullest cooperation to the Government to help eradicate terrorism when a Sri Lankan defence delegation led by Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa visited Russia last week.

The Sri Lankan Defence delegation met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Deputy Defence Minister General Nikolai Makarou and the Russian Intelligence Chief during this visit.The discussions have been focused on sharing military intelligence and military training during these discussions, and the implementation of the already existing defence cooperation agreements between the two countries.

The Sri Lankan delegation had briefed Russia on the current situation in the country and the Russian Government had given an assurance that they will standby the Sri Lankan Government in their efforts to eliminate terrorism from Sri Lanka.

The Australian Government had also indicated that it is also seriously considering banning the LTTE as a terror organization when Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama met his Australian counterpart this week.

Therefore, the Security Forces are now in a very strong position to push the LTTE into their final defeat in the Wanni even before the North East monsoon starts in the next month as they are now well equipped and prepared to win the final battle.