Heavy fighting erupts along Vavuniya FDL

The army detachment placed at Talgasmankada inside the Yala Wildlife Sanctuary would not have expected that they would be the focus of a Tiger attack. They probably thought that they had seen the last of the Tigers roaming in the south eastern parts of the country earlier in the year.

The Tigers had been flushed out of the neighboring Ampara District and the two districts that lay further north — Batticaloa and Trincomalee. Tiger units remaining in the east after they had lost all their land holdings had converged on the northern fringes between the east and the Wanni. They were suspected to have regrouped in small numbers, between 400-600 cadres, in the jungles of Peraru, south of the Trincomalee bay. Even early last week there was confrontation when some Tigers tried to cross the main highway south of Trincomalee.

The attack deep inside Yala shows that not only are Tiger pockets operating in areas outside Peraru but that they appear to be highly mobile as well.

During the last month or so sporadic attacks in the east have been on the increase and Tigers in the Wanni had indicated that they were stepping up the pressure. The Talgasmankada attack was their latest move.

Tigers attacked the detachment on the banks of the Menik Ganga around 6.30 p.m on October 15. Penetration into the area is usually difficult and with the onset of the rain it had been made even more difficult. The initial confirmed reports only spoke of gunfire in the area.

It later became clear that the camp had come under attack by the Tigers. The military said that six soldiers at the detachment were killed in the attack, but not much damage was suffered by the camp. One soldier at the detachment had received minor injuries in the attack. Reinforcements had linked up with Talgasmankada several hours after the initial report of the attack.

"Reinforcements were sent from Colombo and they are in the area," Military Spokesperson Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said. Search teams combed the jungles trying to hunt down the attackers, but there was no sign of them.

The Tigers said that the attackers had been able to hold on to the detachment for three hours and set fire to it before fleeing. Tamilnet said that the attack had been launched to commemorate three cadres killed in battle a month back. The attackers had also removed six machine guns, ammunition and communication equipment.

The army said that the attackers had infiltrated through the jungles and attacked the camp and even tried to move further south, towards Kataragama.

"According to initial reports, (the attackers) had tried to forcefully enter areas north of Kataragama but the resistance of the troops had forced them to abandon their plan and run in all directions. 

 "It is believed that those pockets of isolated terrorists were trying to launch a major attack with a view to infusing fear among tourists expecting to visit Yala sanctuary after its re-opening," the army said on October 16.

Talgasmankada is located closer to the southern and western boundaries of the sanctuary and in the past attackers have moved closer to Kataragama. In 1998, they moved to the fringes of the Kataragama CTB depot that borders the jungles, during a similar but much larger attack.

However, Brig. Nanayakkara dismissed that there was a possibility that the attackers had tried to move further south. Kataragama is located about 40 km. from Talgasmankada.

There was also confusion on how the attackers had arrived with some suggesting that they could have used a sea route hiding among fishermen. However the navy said that no such boat movement had taken place.

This is not the first time that Yala has come under attack. There were periodic attacks in 1998 and 99 and the army was inducted into the park permanently and even a competent authority from the army was appointed.

Those attacks were bigger — the Tigers had set fire to tourist bungalows in Yala and to vehicles on the Buttala-Kataragama Road at Galge. The police post at the location too was set ablaze during the late 1990 attacks.

Even then there was no indication that the attackers had in any way indicated that they wanted to hold on to the camps or the police post. The attacks were looked upon as attempts to drive fear into the public who would visit Yala.

In fact during those attacks the public in and around Yala were even suspicious that hunters, ganja cultivators and timber racketeers had helped low level Tiger cadres to operate in the park so as to force a closure.

Even then there was suspicion that the Tigers may have used fishing boats and beached at Buttuwa area before making their way into the interior.

Whatever route the attackers used to get in, at least they had succeeded in disrupting the normal functioning of the park. After the brief closure the park was to reopen on October 16. Instead of visitors enjoying the wild life, more explosions were reported on that day. This time the tractor that was transporting the six bodies of the soldiers who were killed on Monday was caught in a pressure mine explosion the next day morning on the Katagamuwa road. One soldier was killed and five others were injured in the attack.

The next day, a soldier and two wild life officials were seriously injured in an anti-personnel mine explosion. The park opening had been indefinitely postponed, though Environment Minister Champika Ranawaka was at the park the morning after the attack.

The confrontations in Yala dominated the headlines because the Tigers had not been active in the region in the last five years or so, but this appeared to be a side show and the main face-off point still remained the Vavuniya-Mannar forward defence line where high intensity combat was evolving.

Heavy fighting was reported right through last week and the death toll was above 50 according to figures released by the Defence Ministry.

The military appeared to be on the offensive in the area in what the Ministry termed were ‘pre-emptive strikes.’ Such attacks were reported right along the volatile FDL.

On Monday, October 15, the military had launched an attack into Tiger positions at Mullikulam in the morning. The Ministry said that at least 20 Tigers would have been killed and over 18 injured.

"At least 20 terrorists were killed and 15 others were injured in the incident. During the subsequent search, troops found five bodies of young LTTE female cadres and two bodies of male cadres," the Ministry said.

The seven bodies were later brought to the Vavuniya Hospital by the troops. They had been killed when the tractor they were travelling in was targeted by government mortar fire.

However, the Ministry said that troops refrained from firing back at Tiger mortar positions despite one soldier being killed during the same confrontation. "Field sources said that they refrained from retaliating to the terrorists’ indirect fire since the LTTE has positioned all of their artillery and heavy mortar batteries around the sacred Madhu Church," the Ministry said.

The Tigers have positioned their 120 mm mortar guns in the church area according to government troops. The Tigers have debarred civilians from entering the Madhu Church area as a security precaution while both sides have traded charges that the other was using civilians in the area as human shields.

Just hours before the Talgasmankada attack, government troops launched another attack at Tiger positions in Vilathikulam, again north of the FDL. "At Vilathikulam, infantrymen killed eight more terrorists in two separate attacks last evening (October 15). Field sources said four terrorists were killed in each incident when troops attacked two terror hideouts between 3-4 p.m," the Ministry said.

Heavy fighting continued well into the next day that the ICRC decided not to station its officials at the Omanthai crossover point on October 18 due to security considerations. This is not the first time the ICRC had pulled out its staff from the cross over point recently and would not be the last going by the ground situation.

The ICRC had decided to move the officials back to Omanthai on October 19 after security guarantees were given by both the Tigers and the military. The pull out had been prompted by the fighting as well as heavy trading of mortar fire and artillery.

SLMM too confirmed that artillery fire was a common feature on either side of the Wanni FDL’s in the last fortnight – "Shelling was heard in the areas near Vavuniya and Mannar throughout the week (between October 7 and 14) , while it was registered around Omanthai in the beginning of the period of reporting. Shelling was also registered north of Kilinochchi. In Jaffna shelling was observed every evening and night during the week," it said.

Pre-emptive operations by government forces continued during October 16 as well. The Ministry said that troops targeted Tigers at Tamapanai, Navatkulam and Periyapandisuichchan, all areas west of the Omanthai crossover point.

"In two separate incidents, army infantrymen skirmished with LTTE infiltration teams in the Navatkulama and Thampanai areas while in another incident army engaged terrorists’ gun positions with heavy artillery during the course of the day.

"In Navatkulam, in the east of Omanthai army infantrymen skirmished with a group of LTTE cadres around 9.40 last morning killing one LTTE female cadre. According to the sources, troops also removed 10 anti personnel mines laid by the LTTE during the same incident.

" At Periyapandisuichchan, West of Omanthai, SL Army retaliated to LTTE artillery fire using heavy weapons around 2.30 p.m. Ground sources said that LTTE engaged army positions with 122 mm artillery and 120 mm, 81mm and 60 mm mortar fire. Technical sources have revealed that 15 terrorists were killed due to the army retaliatory fire. One soldier was also injured in the incident. The injured was immediately rushed to the field hospital in Vavuniya, sources said.

" Separately, in Thampanai troops perusing LTTE infiltrators attacked an LTTE group at 11.45 a.m. (October 17). Ground sources confirmed that four terrorists were killed in the incident. One soldier also sustained injuries and was directed to immediate medical attention. According to the sources, the group of terrorists fled the area in the face of the army assault," the Ministry said.

In a separate incident, the navy said it fired at a cluster of boats that were moving in restricted seas north of Mannar island in the early morning of October 18 . The navy in shore crafts had fired at the cluster and were fired back in return, according to the Defence Ministry. The Tiger boats had later fled the area leaving four dead and three survivors in one craft.

However later on in the day a different version emerged, that among the boats caught in the attack was one with civilians fleeing to south India from the Nacchikudha beach north of Mannar. The three injured were a mother and two children.

More fighting was reported from Periyatamapanai, about 12 km south east of the Madhu compound on October 18 morning as well. The army said troops were able to kill 13 Tigers from a group that had tried to storm the FDL around 10 a.m in the morning. Eight bodies had been recovered

A similar clash was reported near Giant’s Tank area west of Madhu around the same time, but there was no confirmation of the casualties.

The onset of the monsoon rains were expected to dull the fighting, but going by last week, it is having the opposite effect.