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Mutur: The peace of the graveyard
As the Sri Lanka Air Force Russian built Mi 17 troop transport helicopter dropped altitude, the pilot fired rounds of flares. It resembled a fireworks display. A bright luminous light illuminated the air and soon turned into snowflake like clouds. Within seconds he touched down inside the Eastern Naval Area Headquarters at the Dockyard in Trincomalee. Air Force pilots were not taking chances. That has become a routine drill to deflect surface-to-air missiles fired by Tiger guerrillas. The flares that generated heat could deflect the surface-to-air missiles. Such missiles were heat seeking and would otherwise hit a helicopter or aircraft. At the crack of dawn I was among a group of media personnel who left the Ratmalana airport in a Harbin Y 12 aircraft. We landed at the SLAF base in Hingurakgoda and transferred to the Mi 17. After we landed at the Dockyard, our first visit was to the Trincomalee hospital. Navy personnel were bringing in injured civilians. Others were undergoing surgery or were being tended to by doctors or nurses. There were more than 50 of them. Medical staff said others were in different wards. Arriving at the Dockyard waterfront, we donned bullet proof vests and steel helmets before we boarded Dvora fast attack craft (FAC) that cut across the deep seas to some 500 metres ahead of the Mutur Jetty, recaptured by troops after Tiger guerrillas laid siege for two days. We waited till dinghies arrived, boarded them and landed at the jetty. A walk led us to the Navy detachment, a row of battle scarred buildings. Bodies of Tiger guerrillas killed in the shooting lay strewn all round. I took photographs. I spoke to senior military officials and learnt of how the scenes I visited were bloody battlefield only hours earlier. I learnt that attacks by Tiger guerrillas have forced some 30,000 civilians to flee their homes. Most were Muslims and have moved into makeshift camps in Kantalai. A delegation of Government Muslim leaders, including Western Province Governor Alavi Mowlana and Petroleum Resources Minister A.H.M. Fowzie, had arrived there to tend to their needs. The team had been dispatched by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. I was told that 52 buses were used yesterday to bring in more displaced families from Mutur. Mass kitchens were turning out hot meals for them. The Government had sent in a medical team. A consignment of 10,000 mats arrived by air. More were due today. Yesterday, in Mutur civilians who chose to remain were being fed with bread and dhal. Government officials said troops were still busy clearing the outlying areas of Mutur. It is only thereafter that full normalcy will be restored to the troubled town of Mutur, they said.
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