Tigers stuck as Forces advance

The successive victories achieved by the Security Forces capturing LTTE strongholds in the Northern front and from the Wanni front has put the Tiger leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran in a very embarrassing and humiliating position as he prepares to deliver his so-called Mahaveer Day speech on November 26.

It is a big question as to what he is going to tell the world this time as his all strongholds have already fallen to the Security Forces as of now with the latest additions Pooneryn, Mankulam and the Muhamalai Forward Defence Line.

Last year he came out with a big complaint to the international community for not taking enough steps to defend them from the military thrust by the Security Forces.

Therefore, the local and international community are awaiting to observe what would be his next complaint to the international community in the aftermath of all these defeats.

There are only two options available for him, to deliver in his so-called annual speech addressing the Tamil community and Tamil Diaspora as President Mahinda Rajapaksa has already given these two options for him.

That is either to accept the defeat and lay down arms and enter the democratic path or to further continue the battle and face the certain defeat at the hands of the Security Forces.

Therefore, it is incumbent on terror leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, to respond to the invitation extended by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the aftermath of the fall of Pooneryn, in his speech that is due on November 26 after a week long commemoration of fallen Tiger cadres.

If Tiger leader Prabhakaran has an iota of concern about the lives of the innocent Tamil Tiger cadres fighting a losing battle, he should accept his defeat and lay down arms at this juncture as all his strongholds have fallen to the hands of the Security Forces.

For the Security Forces who had come all the way to achieve these successes, knowing the difficult paths they have to trod, capturing the remaining strongholds of the Tigers is a certain goal. They have the courage, commitment and strength to achieve the remaining task whatever the circumstances they have to face.

They have clearly proved that the LTTE cannot keep their strongholds intact by constructing huge earth bunts surrounding them as all these have already been destroyed by the advancing troops in achieving their victories.

The LTTE has been totally defeated on one front, that was with the capture of Pooneryn by the Task Force - I or the 58 Division troops under the command of Brigadier Shavendra Silva in the early hours on last Saturday.

It was after overcoming obstacle after obstacle that 58 Division troops led by Commandos achieved a historic victory in Pooneryn.

Many critics described this as a victory aimed at the vote on the second reading of the Budget presented by the President Mahinda Rajapaksa on November 6. According to these critics the Security Forces victories are aimed at political gains of the Government and aimed for the Government to take political advantages.

If they are correct in their assessment the Security Forces must be magicians to achieve all these victories as and when political leaders need such victories. It is a fair assessment that the Security Forces are guided by political leadership of the country but if they act according to the interests of the politicians they would have ended up in disasters like in the past.

It would be fair to say that the Security Forces are guided by the strong political leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to carry on the battle against the Tigers.

But they were not bound by the deadlines set by politicians. That was the reason for the successes of the Security Forces for the past two and half years in which they reached the maximum number of victories against the LTTE.

The other side of the coin is that having allocated the highest amount of funds as the defence expenditure the Government also has a duty by the people of this country to show that they are investing all these funds for a worthy cause.

Otherwise the people will not tolerate the allocation of money for a losing battle amidst all these constraints they have to face at present.

Therefore, there is no justification to aver that the capture of Pooneryn was for gaining political advantage. The capture of Pooneryn coincided with the vote on second reading of the budget in Parliament as troops had made all necessary background to capture Pooneryn, the last Tiger stronghold of the LTTE.

The capture of Pooneryn came at a time the LTTE was focusing on Kilinochchi the de-facto capital of the illusionary Tamil homeland declared by them. The capture of Pooneryn was important than the capture of the Kilinochchi as Pooneryn has a higher ‘military value’ than Kilinochchi.

The capture of Kilinochchi would add prestige for the military but the capture of Pooneryn gave a military advantage for the Security Forces at a time Tamil Nadu politicians are trying their best to exert pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to stop the military thrust on the LTTE.

With the capture of Pooneryn, the Security Forces can seal off LTTE links with South India over Gulf of Mannar to depend on their supplies.

So with the capture of the entire Western coast under Security Forces control, for the first time the Security Forces have been able to confine the LTTE to the Eastern part of the country and the majority of areas to the east of A-9 road.

The military machinery and Government machinery are now on to make the Pooneryn Sanguppiddy jetty operational as soon as possible clearing mines.

The vehicle of the 11 Sri Lanka Light Infantry Regiment Commanding Officer. Lt. Colonel Kithsiri Ekanayake also got caught in a land mine last Monday, but he escaped with minor injuries.

Therefore, it is a pre-requisite on the part of the military to ensure that area is free of mines before making use of the Pooneryn Sanguppiddy jetty for either for military or civilian use.

The fall of Pooneryn came after troops of the 58 Division captured a section of the Pooneryn-Paranthan road by early hours of last Saturday. The troops of the 58 Division had been operating in the South of Pooneryn Paranthan road from a very short distance for a few days before capturing the road on Saturday.

Two battalions of the Commando Brigade 2 Commando Regiment and the 3 Commando Regiment took the lead in this operation to clear the area of the LTTE and for the infantry troops to hold the area.

Therefore the 58 Division which was initially formed as the Task Force I has reached the peak of their victories with the capture of Pooneryn.Now they are heading towards Paranthan, the key junction located in the A-9 road in the north of Kilinochchi.

As of yesterday they were operating some six Kilometres West of Paranthan and faced yet another earth bund located west of A-9 road.

According to military sources the LTTE has constructed this earth bund once again to stop the troops’ advance towards the A-9 road towards Paranthan junction.

According to military officials the LTTE had constructed this 10 to 11 Kilometres long earth bund covering Kilinochchi town and A-road from the western front from which the 58 Division and the 57 Division are targeting Kilinochchi.

Capture of Mankulam

It was just three days after the capture of Pooneryn the troops of the newly formed Task Force III under the command of Brigadier Satyapriya Liyanage reached another success in their effort to liberate the Wanni from the clutches of the LTTE.

The Task Force III troops who launched their military operation from the North West of Mankulam hit the A-9 road in Panikkankulam area and then commenced their North to South advance along the A-9 road last week.

The 631 Brigade under the command of Lt. Colonel Priyantha Perera achieved this success on Monday at 2.15 p.m. with the 19 Sri Lanka Light Infantry Regiment and 16 Gajaba Regiment troops reaching Mankulam junction after cutting off Olumadu junction on the Mankulam Mullaitivu road. Heavy fighting erupted at in Mankulam junction on Monday as the LTTE offered stiff resistance to the advancing troops.

But they could not hold this strategically important junction town as troops of the 19 Sri Lanka Light Infantry Regiment cut off the Mankulam Mullaitivu road from Olumadu junction. The 633 Brigade under the command of Lt. Colonel Prathap Thillekeratne gave support for the 631 Brigade troops having advanced to the Mankulam junction along the Vellankulam Mankulam road.

With the capture of this junction town troops are now in a position to control Tiger movements on the A-9 Mankulam Mullaitivu road and also on Mankulam Thunukkai road.

The LTTE has been entrapped in the area east of A-9 road in the areas North of Mankulam as the 574 Brigade under the command of Lt. Colonel Senaka Wijesuriya took the Kokavil Rupavahini tower area under the Security Forces control.

Capture of Kumulamunai village

The 59 Division under the command of Brigadier Nandana Udawatta operating in the South of Mullaitivu also has reached a strategic location south of Mullaitivu after they fully captured the strategically important Kulmulamunai village. It was the 593 Brigade under the command of Colonel Jayantha Gunaratne that advanced into the Kumulamunai village last week.

The 11 Gemunu Watch battalion under the command of Lt. Colonel Priyanka Fernanado was holding a part of the village by last week and the 7 Gemunu Watch battalion under the command of Lt. Colonel Chaminda Lamaheva moved in to the village from the west.

By Monday morning they were in full control of the village and captured three Tiger bodies after conducting clearing operations. With the capture of the Kumulamunai village troops are in a position to strike north of Mullaitivu.

After the capture of Kumulamunai troops are now poised to capture Mulliyavali village and enter into the Nagacholai forest reserve west of Mullaitivu and also towards Alampil where the LTTE has a major Sea Tiger base.

The fall of Jaffna FDL

While the LTTE is facing severe blows from all fronts the Security Forces reached another success by early hours of yesterday after totally capturing the eight Kilometres long defence line from Kadolana to Kilali.

It was after four days of fighting the troops of the 53 Division under the Command of the Brigadier Kamal Gunaratne and 55 Division under the command of Brigadier Prasanna Silva captured this heavily fortified defence line of the LTTE.

The forward elements of the 5 and 6 Vijayaba Infantry Regiments, 6 Gajaba Regiment and 6 Sinha Regiment troops from the 53 Division moved into the LTTE first defence line in Muhamalai when the operation to capture Muhamalai and Kilali Defence line was launched last Saturday with the capture of Pooneryn.

At the initial stages of the operation, the Security Forces faced stiff resistance from the LTTE from their artillery guns positioned in Soranpattue area.

Sections of troops of the 53 Division and 55 Division advanced some 800 metres ahead of their Forward Defence line to hit the LTTE first defence line. The only easy situation troops faced this time was that they did not get any artillery threat from Pooneryn area as it was under troops control by that time.

Amidst resistance troops were able to hold the Tiger defence line for the past few days facing a large number of counter attacks by the LTTE even suffering casualties due to artillery and mortar fire.

According to ground troops Theepan has taken overall command of the battle as every Tiger leader in the frontlines sought his assistance to continue the battle. According to the military as more than 1,500 to 2,000 cadres are committed to defend Muhamalai and Kilali defences, the task of overrunning this defence line without casualties is an illusion.

Therefore, the Security Forces also suffered heavily but not in the way speculated by some media during the battle. But the number of casualties to the LTTE was very much higher than the Security Forces as Security Forces have observed scores of Tiger dead bodies scattered ahead of the Tiger FDLs and vehicles taking a large number of Tiger casualties ran towards south Muhamalai on several occasions.

By yesterday morning the Security Forces announced that they were in full control of the LTTE first defence line and were firing towards the second and third defence lines of the LTTE located in Muhamalai and Kilali.

With the full capture of these Tiger defence line troops are poised to advance further Southwards to link up with the troops operating in Paranthan area.

But if one thinks it would be an easy task to end the remaining part of the war so easily it would be a miscalculation as the LTTE has withdrawn much of its firepower into a limited area between Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu and they can concentrate on the Security Forces towards any direction from one single point without moving their guns from one place to another.

The most sensitive issue is here is that they are taking the cover of around 200,000 civilians to cover their gun positions. Therefore, the Security Forces are now poised to enter the most critical and sensitive part of the battle in the coming weeks that should be fought with some sort of special attention.

It is expected to turn into a battle between humanity and inhumanity and Prabhakaran will have to tell the world whether he continues his inhumane acts or not on November 26.