20th February 2000

Fresh attacks at Elephant Pass

By Hiranthi Fernando

The dawn of February 16 was action packed for the soldiers in the Elephant Pass area. They successfully repulsed a two-pronged attack by the LTTE, aimed at gaining entry into the Jaffna Peninsula. The attack was perhaps timed to get additional advantage before the peace process the Government is trying to negotiate with the facilitation of the Norwegian Government, just as the last major attack on Elephant Pass in early December was timed shortly before the Presidential Election.

The area from Pallai in the north to Paranthan junction in the south constitutes the Elephant Pass area under Army control today. Being the entrance to the Jaffna Peninsula, Elephant Pass is a strategic point. In early December, Elephant Pass came under heavy terrorist attack. The troops performed well, holding firm to the forward defence lines on the eastern and western fronts, inflicting heavy casualties on the terrorists. In an attack on the southern front in mid- December, the Army fought back valiantly and withstood the onslaught but had to withdraw to positions just behind the Paranthan junction due to tactical reasons. They still dominated the Paranthan junction, denying the LTTE access to the road from Paranthan to Elephant Pass. This junction is another strategic point since the road from Mullaitivu to Pooneryn also passes through it.

On February 16, around 4.40 a.m., the LTTE launched a fierce attack on the eastern flank of the southern forward defence line (FDL), manned by the security forces, located just north of the Paranthan junction. Once again, their aim seemed to be to gain access to the junction and the road leading to Elephant Pass. This would allow them entry to the Peninsula. A heavy barrage of artillery, mortars, RPG and machine gun fire rained down in the attack. At the same time, a diversionary mortar attack was also launched from the eastern side on the entire Iyakachchi forward defence line. This is the closest point on the FDL, to the A 9 route to Jaffna. Their campaign thus seems to be strongly focused on Jaffna as their main goal.

The Army successfully repulsed the attack on Iyakachchi and drove the enemy back. At Paranthan, due to the heavy concentration of terrorist fire, troops withdrew from nine bunkers to prepared alternate positions. This is a planned strategy to minimise the loss of men. Reinforcements were rushed to the scene of attack without delay and the soldiers succeeded in repulsing the attack. The vacated bunkers were recaptured by 8 a.m. Heavy casualties were inflicted on the Tigers who fled in the face of the counter-attack leaving their dead behind.

"The men fought with dedication", Army Commander, Lt. Gen. Srilal Weerasooriya commented, speaking of the attack.

In the meantime, boat movements were spotted in the lagoon. Four terrorist boats from the direction of Pooneryn and Kunchi Paranthan attempted to close in on the southern forward defence lines. Troops fired on the boats. When the land attack on the southern FDL failed, the boats withdrew, making no attempt to land. Analysts say that if the attack on Iyakachchi had been successful, the boats would have landed at Kilali, thus securing the A 9 route on two sides.

During search operations after the recapture of the southern FDL bunkers, troops recovered about 17 terrorist dead bodies along with seven T 56 rifles and a T56 LMG. About 30 more bodies were seen beyond the FDLs. The Army lost 10 soldiers in the attack and 55 were wounded. The forces expect the terrorist casualties to be even higher since they fled towards Kilinochchi in the face of the counter- attack, leaving their dead. Kfir aircraft effectively engaged the terrorist targets ahead of the southern Elephant Pass forward defence lines.

The Army made arrangements to hand over the bodies recovered during search operations to the LTTE through the ICRC. However, the ICRC did not accept the bodies due to difficulties in transporting them to the Wanni jungles. They will therefore be buried in the cleared areas with the assistance of the Government Agent.

It is also reported that in the early hours of February 15, the Army completely destroyed three LTTE bunkers south east of Thanankilappu, killing five terrorists, using armour and rocket launchers (RCL). Later on that same day, they destroyed two bunkers and killed three terrorists, including two female cadres. In fact, during the last month, strikes by the Army together with their Special Forces have resulted in three to four terrorists being killed daily, causing considerable depletion in the LTTE ranks.

The Fifth Column

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