Bloodying the Tiger’s nose

By Senpathi

The stated military strategy is not to pursue a land grab in the Wanni, as in the East, where the Army took over vast swathes of territory. In the Wanni and the North, the forces have to cope with a less friendly civilian population of around half-a-million people.

And, on top of that, the Tigers are well entrenched in their defences and have proved their conventional capabilities, which they have acquired over the years.

Despite the Military’s superior combat power, it is not easy to dislodge the cadres who have conventional capability including artillery and mortar power and have dug in and mined the area heavily.

The Army has opened up five fronts in the Wanni and the North to draw the Tigers into battle. The Military feels that the way to go about is to destroy the cadres and their strike capability, in an overall war of attrition.

(For its part, the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) this week alone, took out two identified targets, including the LTTE’s “X-ray Base” east of Iranamadu Tank in the Kalmadukulama area on Wednesday (23) and its transport base located at Kilinochchi, on Friday (25). In the first air raid, SLAF fighter jets, in a low flying mission, had, with the pin point accuracy, targeted the base that LTTE Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was to visit, the SLAF claimed. But, there was no conformation based on ground intelligence, as to the Tiger leader being injured.

The insurgency has grown over several phases and what the Military is doing is to roll back these phases, which, of course, takes time.

Setting deadlines to win the war, is not very practical, on account on the LTTE’s use of conventional force, guerilla warfare and terrorism. We saw how the LTTE continued to make its presence felt in Thanamalwila in the Moneragala district, killing three policemen and injuring two soldiers this week.

The Military is shaping the battle and creating the conditions, until the right time and right place to go for the kill. The last experience at Muhamalai, ahead of the Budget vote, only goes to show that the Tigers expected the operation and dealt with it accordingly. As the soldiers captured the first bunker line and proceeded to get at the second, the LTTE rained artillery and turned the soldiers into sitting ducks. The same mistake was not repeated this time, as troops, this week, destroyed 24 LTTE bunkers and caused damage to the forward defence lines (FDL) at Muhamalai, Nagar Kovil and Kilali.

While mass scale bodies had to be restricted, a few such operations would be in order. Ahead of the country’s Diamond Jubilee of Independence, either side would like to make a dent in the enemy’s lines.

But, until such a large-scale thrust is undertaken; targets in the North and the Wanni were continually under attack by the security forces this week.

According to intercepted LTTE messages, 15 Tigers were killed and double the number injured during the confrontations in Jaffna FDLs. Lt Bopage of the Infantry Regiment and two soldiers were killed. Lt N.M. Rajapakse and another soldier were killed in action in Muhamalai on Thursday (24), while five LTTE cadres were killed during the confrontation.

In another incident, two leading LTTE cadres, including Kengan, who carried out attacks in government controlled areas, were killed.

Meanwhile, in Mannar, during a confrontation at Periyakulam, two soldiers were killed and six others injured, while 14 Tigers were killed in Pandivirichchan, Anandankulam, Marandamode, and Kallikulam areas. A total of 29 Tigers were killed in all these areas on Thursday (24). At Periyapanchakulam in Vavuniya, on Sunday (20), two LTTE regional leaders were gunned down, according to the Military. The security forces recovered six bodies, including those of Kugan and Manju. Troops from 59 Division, advancing from Weli Oya, killed another two dozen Tigers over the week.

Government military strategists believe that by killing Tigers in small numbers, the Army would be able to unsettle the LTTE, to strike hard later.

Source: nation.lk