Wanni battles reach new pitch

Tens of thousands of civilians
 behind front lines

Tigers put up stiff resistance

By Amantha Perera

There is an obvious shift in mode in the Wanni battlegrounds. The August 26 air raid over Trincomalee appears to be the opening scene in a new act in the bloody drama. Despite its limited strategic impact, the air raid, according to local as well as Indian commentators, appear to be partly a battlefield version of a Red Bull/Vodka mix - a morale booster for the cadres as well as those funding the Tigers.

The Tigers, who have been falling back when serious challenges were thrown at them in the Wanni battlefront during the past year, are now putting up stiffer resistance especially after the air raid.

The change in gear was even publicly acknowledged: "The fighting in the Wanni has intensified as the Tigers, who avoided stiff confrontations against the advancing Sri Lanka Army for a while, stepped up defensive engagement on Monday (September 1)," TamilNet said last week.

There has been a PR build-up in the Wanni with Tiger seniors talking of sacrifices - both from cadres as well as civilians, repeatedly in the last month or so. There have also been several ceremonies held to publicly appreciate cadres involved in recent battles.

It is not that stiffer resistance was not anticipated by the military. Two weeks ago Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse declined to peg a time frame for the Wanni operations.

Challenges ahead

The Army Commander himself spoke of challenges that lay ahead when he spoke to brigade commanders leading the battles in the Wanni on September 2 at the Wanni Security Forces Headquarters.

"The Army Commander Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, after receipt of the update, reminded his officers of the challenges that lay ahead in the days to come as valiant soldiers from many fronts in the Wanni are making great strides into LTTE held territories in the centre of Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi with courage and determination," the army said later, adding, "The Commander expressing his contentment over military gains in the past few weeks sternly reminded his officers of minimising casualties among their own troops since the enemy would do the worst to prevent troops from entering Tiger strongholds."

A week after the Tiger air raid, troops operating along the forward-most positions in the Wanni, northeast of Nachchikuda, broke out of their positions and advanced north. The breakout came around 5 am in the morning, along a stretch of area about 5 km between  Vannerikulam in the west and Akkarayankulam in the east. Heavy fighting broke out between the Tigers and the troops soon after and lasted over 12 hrs and well into September 2 evening. Smaller skirmishes were reported even three days later.

According to the army, troops moved ahead from their positions east of Nachchikuda between Terankandal and Akkarayankulam as part of ongoing operations by Task Force One and the 57th Division. And they were met with stiff resistance.

"Fierce fighting that continued in Terankandal/Akkarayankulam area, northeast of Nachchikuda, Tuesday (2) as troops started moving forward smashed a LTTE bunker line capturing another patch of about 400 metres. Tiger terrorists in return launched four counter attacks against the troops but the troops overpowered their threat. During this pitched confrontation, troops killed at least 10 terrorists and injured 13 more. Later on, troops searched the area and found two bodies, a female and a male belonging to the Tigers. Two T-56 weapons and 35 81mm bombs were also traced from the affected area. Thirty-one brave soldiers sustained injuries during these clashes and were evacuated to hospitals," the army said adding that five soldiers had died and seven had been unable to link-up with units and had been listed as missing in action.

Discrepancies

The Tigers said that troops had broken out from their positions between the 8th, 9th and 10th mileposts between Vannerikulam tank and Akkarayankulam tank, from September 1 morning. TamilNet quoting unnamed Tiger sources said, "The LTTE fighters, engaged in fortifying different defence lines in the area, confronted SLA units that simultaneously attempted to advance from the 8th, 9th and 10th mileposts, located between Vannerikulam and Akkarayankulam."

The death toll from among the armed forces quoted by the Tigers kept rising. Initially it was 10, then it was upped to 30 and two days after the battles, it was upped to over 70 - figures that were rejected by the government. The military says that at least 22 Tigers were killed and 74 injured.

The death toll was suspected to be over 40 by some assessments.

Two days after the battles, the Tigers reported that they had recovered 29 bodies of fallen government forces' members and handed over 19 to the government through the ICRC.  The day before the army had handed over 20 bodies of Tiger cadres killed in battles in Palamoddai area, southeast of Akkarayankulam.

"Of them (19 bodies handed over), seven bodies have been so far identified as those of the brave army soldiers who had gone missing in Nachchikuda area on Tuesday (2). Troops fighting in the east of Nachchikuda in the Mullaithivu District reported that seven of their fellow-soldiers had unfortunately failed to link-up with the rest of their troops after heavy fighting, as dusk fell on Tuesday," the army said.

"It was only late Tuesday (2) evening, army troops handed over 20 dead LTTE cadres to ICRC officials to be taken to uncleared areas across Omanthai entry/exit point. Most of those felled terrorists were from Mallavi, Palamoddai and Welioya areas." Eleven more bodies were handed over to the army by the ICRC on September 5.

Heavy and intense fighting

Despite the contradictory death claims both sides spoke of heavy and intense fighting.

"Similarly, fierce battles that were raging inAkkarayankulam in the deep north of Nachchikuda and Mallavi areas and other surrounding areas, where a series of pitched and ferocious battles were raging in the past 72 hours for salvation of besieged civilians, beginning last Sunday (31), had brought death to 11 more soldiers as the fighting escalated in those areas throughout day and night," the army said.

It added casualty figures were still not clear even three days after the battles - "Troops maintain some of those soldiers during the course of LTTE resistance would have tactically avoided the enemy thrust or fallen victim to the enemy. However, confirmation on the fate of those casualties is yet to be ascertained," it said of seven soldiers who were listed as missing by September 4.

The Defence Ministry said that the Tigers had dug a defensive trench line, zigzagging the  jungle terrain beyond Vannerikulam and Akkarayankulam and had defended it staunchly.

"LTTE terrorists gave their fullest effort to halt soldiers' advance but aborted their mission after suffering heavy losses to life and material . At present, troops are consolidating their positions.

"According to defence sources, the terror defence in the south of Kilinochchi consists of an earth bund running zigzag from Nachchikuda to Akkarayankulam along with many military trenches, bunkers and strong points," it said

Going by pictures of the battlefield that appeared on pro-Tiger outlets, the ground appears to be bush jungle and both sides had fought close quarter battles, dug in trenches. The pictures showed trenches fortified with sand filled gunny bags, but not the  type that was witnessed in areas like Vidattalthivu or Vellankulam, where troops encountered deep, newly dug trenches and tall earth mounds that were deserted. These trenches appear to have been manned and defended in the face of the onslaught.

Since army divisions began their advance into the Wanni from the southern FDL on four fronts - Mannar, Madhu, Palamoddai and Welioya-Kokkuthuduwai, running parallel to the A9, there has been talk of the anticipated Tiger counter attack. Last week's attack appears to be not so much a counter attack but Tigers resisting army advances, going by accounts released by both sides on the battles.

Pitch cadres

Whatever the definition of the clashes, the Tigers have belatedly indicated that they have decided to pitch cadres to stop the 'marauding government units.' The tactic had been predicted, not least by Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan alias Karuna, the former Tiger eastern military commander. He told The Sunday Leader recently that the Tigers were likely to fall back into Kilinochchi and Mullaithivu and then defend in earnest.

"Mallavi connects to all the important places including Mankulam. Once the military cuts through to the road, it will be difficult for them to carry out their transportation activities," he told The Sunday Leader on August 3. Incidentally, government troops took control of Mallavi on September 2 as battles raged north of them along the Vannerikulam-Akkarayankulam axis.

"The LTTE will have to move towards Mullaithivu once the route is captured. That is why they are withdrawing from the area. Now they will shift more towards Mullaithivu and try to protect the region and put up more defences."

Hard to match

Karuna told The Sunday Leader that Tigers found it hard to match government forces on different fronts but would put up stiffer resistance as fronts narrowed, like what has taken place on the western Wanni front, west of the A9. It was over 50 km between Mannar and Omanthai, when troops began their advances last year. Now it has shrunk considerably, and may have even halved or less in areas where last week's fighting took place.

"They are not in a position to put up fresh defence lines in these areas. They are weak. They don't have the manpower. The LTTE uses civilians for its purposes. The Wanni Tigers do not have the manpower nor do they have proper leadership," Karuna  said and predicted that the Tigers may wait till the front shifts east of the A9.

That has not happened, but now fighting is taking place and there are tens of thousands of civilians just a few kilometres north of where the clash erupted. The Tigers are reportedly regrouping and  concentrating command posts in areas north and northeast of Kilinochchi.

Akkarayankulam lies less than 10 km southwest of Kilinochchi town proper.

The Tigers have not removed hardcore fighting units like Charles Anthony and Imran Pandiyan from areas north of Thunkkai and Mallavi. Reports have indicated that Theepan, a senior holding the rank of 'colonel' has been moved into the area. He was part of  the Tiger units that were successful in over-running the Elephant Pass garrison and served to support cadres operating under the late Balraj.

He was also the Tiger commander for the Muhamalai sector and represented the Tigers in that capacity in the sub-committee on de-escalation during the 2002-2003 peace talks. His counterpart from the government was none other than the current Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka who was then holding the post of overall Jaffna Commander of the security forces.

Another top ranker who made an appearance last week was Bhanu, who was seen inspecting weapons that the Tigers said they had recovered from government forces.

The Tigers reportedly moved cadres from Mallavi last week to Mankulam further east and north towards Kilinochchi when government troops gained the town on September 3.

There is also increased attempts to undermine the stability in the east. Two attacks targeting the STF were reported last week, one in Ithamalee, northwest of Batticaloa and the other near Panama in Ampara.

CDF to the fore

 Last weekend members from the Civil Defence Force (CDF) placed in the Konketiyawa area southeast of the Padaviya tank detected a group of Tiger cadres, in uniforms similar to those worn by government forces moving south.  The detection was made around 6 in the morning of August 30 and the infiltrators were heading south.

The group believed to number into the 20s had sneaked into government areas through the FDL ahead of the Padaviya tank. The CDF had then opened fire and at least one Tiger had been killed while others had hid in the jungles.

In the ensuing fight one homeguard and an army soldier were killed before Special Force members were inducted into the area to flush out the Tigers.

At least 12 Tigers were killed. Security forces believe that the Tigers were part of a group who were being sent to the east to carry out attacks. Some believe them to be former eastern cadres who had fled to the Wanni.

The two attacks on the STF and the detection comes on the heels of the air attack on Trincomalee and seem to be an indication of Tiger attempts to destabilise the east.

Government forces are unlikely to halt the forward advances despite last week's incidents. The momentum is still with them. Last week they had closed in, in Murugandi, the last prominent location on the A9 before Kilinochchi. It is where the well known Hindu kovil is located and is also the last stop of the Yal Devi (the north bound train). Parts of decayed rail cars were still on the track as the train was set on fire near the Murugandi station, just west of the kovil.