Troops who were last week operating at the doorstep of the demarcated civilian no-fire zone have now encircled the dwindling Tiger terrain, cutting off their main supply routes, despite stiff resistance.
During the past few days pitched battles erupted as the military pushed their way forward to capture the Pachchapulmudai junction northeast of Puthukkudiyiruppu in Mullaitivu in a bid to cut off the final LTTE supply line.
The junction along the Puthukkudiyiruppu-Ampalavanpokkanai road was connected to the Tiger defence line from the no fire zone. This was a strategic position for the guerrillas as they had used this route to infiltrate the troop defence lines during the past few weeks. According to intelligence received by the military, the LTTE had even used this road to transport heavy military hardware.
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| Army Commander Sarath Fonseka visiting Wanni yesterday |
By Wednesday evening troops of the 53 Division, 58 Division and Task Force VIII captured the Pachchapulmudai junction, completely cutting off LTTE links between the no-fire zone and the forward defences.
Troops attached to the 58 Division forged ahead from the North of the Puthumatallan’s marshy terrain, about two kilometres east of the frontlines, where fierce fighting reportedly raged.
The strategy adopted by the military was for the 58 Division troops to move from the north to south direction, while the 53 Division troops made a south to north move from the A-35 road to link up with the 58 Division troops.
As the flurry of fire intensified the LTTE began to fall back resulting in many Tiger leaders fleeing the area in double cabs and trucks. Troops who had then strengthened their positions began firing at the fleeing Tigers.
It had later transpired that LTTE leaders Bhanu and Lawrence had been present at Pachchapulmudai and had been tasked with commanding the Tiger guerrillas. The two rebel commanders had escaped, leaving behind more than 150 guerillas, moments before troops encircled the area, according to the military.
It has been reported that there was no communication between the stranded Tigers and the Tiger leaders operating from the no fire zone.
Troops who had intercepted LTTE radio communications say that the LTTE top-rungers were aware of the move by the troops and fled before hand.
Tigers had mounted heavy artillery hoping to cause maximum damage to the advancing troops. However, their plans went awry due to troops attacking from multiple directions.
Video footage captured by the Sri Lanka Air Force Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) shows how the LTTE was transporting many of its heavy artillery frequently changing its position.
Last Tuesday morning the LTTE had been transporting a 130mm artillery gun in the general area northeast of Puthukkudiyiruppu. An Air Force UAV that had been conducting aerial surveillance over Puthukkudiyiruppu outside the civilian no fire zone had first spotted this and had sent the images to its command centre.
Based on the intelligence received, Israeli built K-fir jets attached to the 10th air force squadron were scrambled. Having observed the target the jets had taken a precision strike resulting in both the vehicle and the artillery gun being destroyed.
However, the LTTE has mounted many of their artillery guns in civilian populated areas of the no fire zone forcing the Sri Lanka Air Force to temporarily halt its bombardment due to the large civilian settlement.
During the battles in Puthukkudiyiruppu several LTTE leaders were killed while some were injured. The elusive LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran’s son Charles Anthony was reported to have been injured in his shoulder during confrontations which erupted in the north of Puthukkudiyiruppu last week.
On Thursday evening the military received reports that the leader of the "Charles Anthony brigade” Amuthab, and former leader of the brigade Gobith had been killed.
The "Charles Anthony" brigade is known to be an elite band of the LTTE that has played a major role in several decisive battles during the country’s three-decades-long separatist conflict.
The “Charles Anthony brigade” a guerrilla unit with some semi-conventional warfare capabilities was the brain child of Prabhakaran’s friend and comrade-in-arms Charles Anthony, an early LTTE recruit from the Trincomalee District. He was eventually killed by the Sri Lanka Army at Meesalai on July 15, 1983. The elusive Tiger leader even named his eldest son after the brigade which was at that time Prabhakaran’s earliest conventional military formation.
According to intelligence reports the death of the two main leaders of the said brigade is seen as a major blow to the Tigers as they had been in the forefront of planning military strategies to counter troop advance. They had also earned a lot of respect among junior guerrillas.
It is learnt that Gobith was replaced by Amuthab a few months back as a result of a dispute he had with the LTTE leadership due to his inability to fulfill the LTTE mandate.
Another major blow to the Tigers was the loss of Anandapuram. Troops attached to the 58 Division were engaged in close quarter battle that lasted several hours till they broke through the LTTE defence by Thursday evening.
Last Wednesday, troops of the 53 and 58 Divisions manoeuvered their way by sealing off the two square kilometre pocket. It was reported that the LTTE displayed stiff resistance to defend Anandapuram. Soon after the capture, several waves of Tiger guerillas began to attack troop positions located in the Eastern edge of the Puthukkudiyiruppu build-up.
Troops recovered 31 bodies of LTTE cadres who perished in the confrontation, along with 50 T-56 rifles, two rocket propelled grenade launchers, two multi purpose machine guns, one M-16 rifle, two radio communication sets and one Global Positioning System (GPS) device.
During subsequent mop up operations, troops uncovered an armour plated truck and a speed boat.
The entrapped Tigers, whose supply lines have also been cut off are now attempting to use the coastal area for their advantage to breach defence lines. There have been reports of the LTTE carrying out attacks from the coast from speed boats.
Despite its loss of Chalai , its final Sea Tiger base the LTTE has managed to mount several attacks on the troops from the coastal belt of Mullaitivu. However, many of these attacks were thwarted because of the naval blockade.
During the past few weeks Sea Tiger leader Soosai had ordered his guerillas to attack 55 Division troops who are advancing towards the no fire zone from the north of Putumattalan.
Last Saturday, the 553 Brigade began the operation to capture the fifth earth bund of the LTTE on the narrow stretch of land in Thevavetti north of Putumattalan, along the coastal and lagoon front.
As troops advanced further into LTTE terrain, they observed Sea Tigers launching two boats from the no fire zone area.
It was later revealed that as the troops began to advance the Sea Tiger boats too sped towards the troops resulting in a confrontation. The troops fired a Pakistani built, laser guided missile towards one of the boats. The two LTTE boats then sped off in separate directions and opened fire at the troops. Simultaneously, there had been an LTTE ground infiltration which was effectively thwarted by the troops that had received close support from their main battle tank that began to pound shells at the Tiger earth bund, which was eventually captured.
As dusk fell, the troops began to consolidate their positions in the newly captured earth bund. Soon after, the 55 Division troops noticed another five Tiger boats moving towards them. Upon detecting the flotilla of Sea Tiger boats the troops fired a second missile which resulted in one of the Tiger boats being completely destroyed.
To check the advancing troops, Sea Tigers continued to launch their boats into the coastal waters of Chalai and Chundikulam as fighting continued on to the next day.
The naval boats had then intercepted and engaged two clusters of sea Tiger boats with heavy naval gunfire where three Tiger boats were destroyed off the Chalai coastal waters. On Monday, the other two boats were destroyed.
Intercepted radio transmissions confirmed that Sea Tiger leader Maran was either killed (or injured?) in the sea battle and cadres were given instructions to drag the boat back to base along with Maran. One sailor was killed and another Navy officer injured during this battle in the sea off Chundikulam.
The Sunday Times learns that Indian Coast Guard vessels have intensified surveillance and mid-sea patrols along the Tamil Nadu coast. Indian intelligence agencies have revealed that the entire eastern coast including Visakhapatinam harbour and ports around Tamil Nadu have been placed on high alert following reports that LTTE boats may sail into India.
To thwart such infiltration into Indian territory, radars monitoring movements of boats are to be shifted from Rameswaran to Kudanakkudai. |
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