Army says Toppigala very much in their plans

The eastern theatre of war erupts again

By Amantha Perera

  The battle for Toppigala has begun according to some. According to the army, what was carried out were clearing operations in the Vavunathivu area where the Tigers had positioned mortar launchers. The real operation, the military said took place north of Trincomalee, in the Upparu area where four bases were cleared late last week.

"The stories are wrong, we have not launched any offensive operation in to Toppigala, what we did was clear the area around Vavunathivu, where the Tigers had set up mortar launchers and we could not do anything because of the civilians, now that the civilians have moved out we did our operations," Military Spokesperson Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said.

However, on Friday afternoon the government said that Operation Human Shield II had been launched to clear areas north west of Batticaloa.

"The army was on the forward march in a determined mission to liberate those innocent Tamil civilians besieged by the terror groups in their disdainful attempt to employ them as a human shield in the areas north west of Batticaloa today (9).

"Terror groups that had withdrawn to the  Toppigala areas, a jungle thicket north west of Batticaloa town after being defeated at Verugal and Vaharai areas were forcibly retaining the villagers," the Media Centre for National Security said.

Moving into Toppigala

The Tigers earlier said that troops were trying to move in on Toppigala. After days of artillery exchanges, military units began moving in on the last Tiger bastion in the east last week, from the western side of the lagoon, according to the Tigers. Landlocked and surrounded by areas under control of the government, the Tigers two weeks back said that they were ready for a fight.

The Tigers said that on March 8 the military had moved into their areas from two locations, one from the Black Bridge at Chenkaladi and the the other from the Pulukkunavai area on the Maha Oya side, and that both attacks were thwarted. "Two of the main entry exit points have been closed, only one is open," Tiger Military Spokesperson Rasiah Ilanthirayan said.

"They (the army) tried twice to enter our areas, but we resisted," he said. But he also said that fighting was raging well into the next day as well.

Civilians flee shelling

 The Tigers said that villagers in areas in the Vavunathivu area had fled the shelling. It was from this area that the Tigers had fired artillery on the visiting diplomats and the UN delegates two weeks back. The Tigers said that the military was using the Webber Stadium, where the five ambassadors came under attack as a mortar launching point.

"They may have now fled to Toppigala, but our aim was the mortar positions in the Eithamalai area," Brig Samarasinghe said.

The military also said that it was the Tigers who were holding back civlians from leaving.

Heavy fighting erupted at Pillumalai at the southern edge of Tiger held areas  on the A5 highway.

The military said that STF troops had moved to clear a Tiger camp in the area that was being used to fire mortars at Maha Oya.

Three STF men had been killed and 12 injured in the attack, Brig Samarasinghe said. Ground troops from the army too had joined in later in the afternoon.

Elections

Casualty figures were not avaliable but military sources said at  least 20 may have been killed. They said in the two days of fighting in the east at least 30 Tigers may have been killed.

The Karuna group, which has been strengthening its positions in the area also said that the military had commenced advancing on the Tiger positions. "That is what our field commanders are telling us," spokesperson Azad Moulana said. Karuna who toured his camps in the area last week had instructed his cadres to get ready for elections in the east soon.

The Defence Ministry said that civilians had begun to flee areas under Tiger control last week. It said that on March 8, the day the military advancement was reported 4700 persons had reached government controlled areas in Batticaloa at Chenkaladi and Sittandi.

Batticaloa worst affected

"Since January 23  a total of 18,454 persons consisting of 4327 families have arrived in the government controlled areas from the uncleared areas," the ministry said. Batticaloa is already hosting over 70,000 IDPs, the largest district population in the island according to UNHCR. Aid agencies have warned that the situation could turn grave very easily.

"Their harrowing, journey does not stop there. There are still many struggles ahead. Sites are hosting people at twice their actual capacity; the district is facing a potential food shortage, and many families have been separated in flight. These camps are supported by various NGOs as the government finds it hard to cope with the demand for shelter, food and sanitation created by the huge influx of IDPs,"  the Norwegian Refugee Council said last week in a web posting.

It was yet another week in the worsening humanitarian situation where civilians have found themselves stuck smack in the middle.

And there seems to be no end in sight. The top LTTE leadership was talking of bloodbaths and the next stage of the war - S. P. Tamilselvan said the first to the Norwegians, while LTTE military top runger Banu spoke of the latter in Mankulam last week.

"Subsequently we will take Toppigala, we will clear," Brig Samarasinghe predicted. 

A city of contradictions

Jaffna is a town of contradictions. The shop-shelves are empty, but the pavements are full. Fish is a luxury item in the peninsula selling at Rs 170 per 100g at times. Chicken is Rs 3000 per kg.

"There is chicken feed but no chicks to feed, no," a Jaffanite said with his own laconic humour. In August when the A9 was closed and supplies dried up, chicken farmers took the option of selling off the stock. Now that supplies have been relatively established, feed is making its way to Jaffna, but there aren't any chickens.

The government has tried various options to keep Jaffna supplied, other than reopening the A9 - the preferred option of the Tigers. It says that five ships and two aircraft move supplies and persons to and from Jaffna. The army has opened shops, and given what it was three months back when aid agencies warned that the peninsula was at the brink of starvation, the situation is a lot better off now. Rice is now available at Rs.70,  match boxes are priced at Rs.5.  Coconut oil is also available.

But last week, the Tigers played spoil sport again - on the 8 p.m bulletin of the Voice of Tigers on March 5, the announcement came. It warned civilians not to take ships moving between Jaffna and Trincomalee - given the A9 closure, and the expensive air fare, most civilians would sail to Trincomalee and then take the road.

"We will  take immediate action to disrupt the movement of the Sri Lankan armed forces in the sea, civilians are advised not to board any such vessels," the VOT said.

Ships to be attacked

The warning said that the government was using civilians as cover to move supplies and personnel for the armed forces. The decision had been taken to attack the ships immediately, 'inside Tiger territorial waters.' The theatre of the threat could be from just north of Trincomalee all the way up to Nargarkovil on the eastern side of the peninsula.

"We want to stop supplies to the Sri Lankan forces," Tiger military spokesperson Rasiah Ilanthirayan said the day after the announcement was made.

The government said that it was not about stop ship movements because of a threat: "the Tigers have made several such threats in the past, and this is just to disrupt Jaffna," Military Spokesperson Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said.

The government also denied that troops and military supplies were moved on ships along with civilians.

Fundamental rights denied

"The Tigers are denying the Tamils their fundamental rights to move freely and the international community must condemn and prevent such heinous crimes against the Tamils of Jaffna," Minister Douglas Devananda said. The day after the Tiger warning came the government said in the last six months it had ferried more than 25,000 persons. The navy said that it had prevented six attacks by the Tigers on passenger ships.

In fact this is not the first time the Tigers have made sure that shipping lanes remained tense. Last year in April and May it warned the SLMM not to accompany naval craft. Three warnings came and soon after the third on May 11, a naval convoy moving to Jaffna with SLMM monitors was attacked. Naval monitoring has remained suspended ever since. Since the May 11 attack on Pearl Cruiser, sea convoys have come under attack off the northern seas on three occasions.

Thereafter soon after the A9 was closed, supplies were moved to Jaffna with ICRC escort. Then the Tigers warned, in writing that they could not guarantee the safety of ships moving in their territorial waters.

The ICRC pulled back saying that it needed security assurances from all parties concerned to work in areas of conflict. The government was livid and accused the ICRC of caving in. The ICRC said that it had taken into consideration the SLMM response to the warning three months earlier before it too backed off.

Filling the vacuum

Soon afterwards, there was talk of the UN filling the vacuum left by the Red Cross, letters were exchanged between Human Rights and Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe and then UN Under Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland. Ultimately the UN too did not take up the role - it also sought security guarantees, and the Tigers indicated well before any official communication was made that they were not about to give in.

Samarasinghe has again suggested a wider UN role - in a set of proposals now awaiting the approval of Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, there is one for the UN to increase supplies to Jaffna by air. That however was made a week before the shelling in Batticaloa.

The latest warning on ships was made just within hours after LTTE political head S. P. Tamilselvan told Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar to expect a bloodbath if the government pursued a military option.

It was also just eight days after the diplomats and a UN team along with Samarasinghe were shelled as they landed in Batticaloa. Jaffna is hanging by a thread.

The Tigers and the armed forces fought street gun battles last week at Mirusuvil and Chunakam. The civilians in Jaffna have begun to move away from the forward defence lines and are reluctant to get on board the ships.

"Figures on latest movements in the Wanni are still unavailable, however movements away from the frontlines are reported to the UNHCR. In Jaffna the safety and the security of the civilian population remains a serious concern," the Inter Agency Standing Committee said.

 - Amantha Perera