A camp under attack: Defenders had no chance

The 20 to 30 LTTE cadres who overran the tiny detachment of seven army personnel at Talgasmankada on Monday evening certainly had come well prepared. When we visited the camp around 4:30 pm on Wednesday the tell-tale evidence of the fire-power they used was everywhere. It was clearly a case of overkill and the defenders had no chance in hell to withstand such an attack. Even without the element of surprise they used it would have been an easy kill for them.

The attackers had used at least two Multi-Purpose Machine Guns to keep all defenders from raising their heads. The three or four positions they had fired these weapons from were littered with their empty shells. Even tops of huge trees in the camp had been liberally strafed using these heavy guns. In addition they had fired RPGs, 40 millimetre grenades and also hurled hand grenades at the defenders. It is clear at least two grenades had exploded near the bunker from which one of the defenders had fired and died. Against this fire power the defenders only had T-56 rifles.

The camp was also handicapped by the fact that it was surrounded by trees giving cover to any attacker. Apparently, the Wild Life Department rules had not permitted clearing of any of the surrounding vegetation. Its only defence other than the personal weapons of its defenders was a flimsy inner fence made of thin sticks driven to the ground at about six inch intervals and held together with four strands of barbed wire and an outer two or three strands of barbed wire and hung from those strands were empty bottles tied together in twos so as to strike each other and sound a warning if anyone tries to break through them.

According to Capt. W. G. H. K. Weerasinghe, who led the first team of 22 officers and men to rush to the overrun camp from Kataragama after the sole survivor out of seven personnel in the camp managed to escape into the jungle with his personal weapon despite having been shot in his right buttock and managed to phone army headquarters in Colombo about what had happened to them. The rescue contingent that left Kataragama around 6:30 p.m. on Monday had reached Talgasmankada around midnight having trekked through jungle tracks after the truck they were travelling had got stuck on the way. Had they rushed in the truck many of them would have perished as Tigers had left behind a pressure mine on the approach road.

They have not had to dig the road to bury the mine. As park workers had filled up pot holes with fresh earth for the following day’s opening of the park. So instead of the truck an army tractor carrying the bodies of the soldiers killed the previous evening along with four other soldiers and the lone wounded survivor was blasted by the mine killing the driver instantly, while further wounding the injured soldier and also causing injuries to the other four soldiers.

That evening had witnessed the first rain storm of the season accompanied by heavy blowing. The attackers had launched the attack soon after the first rain ceased by mowing down two of the camp soldiers who were bathing in the Menik Ganga, which is behind the camp after having unloaded the weekly supplies that had been delivered to the camp little while earlier.

They had first launched the attack in a V formation so as not to be hit by each other’s fire. K.L. Chandrasiri and Jagath Themiyapala, the two caretakers of the Talgasmankada tourist bungalow, which is only about 50 metres from the camp, had taken to their heels with only the clothes on their backs through the backdoor when the firing started.Chandrasiri said he could remember the exact time of the attack as around 5:30 pm as just before the attack he had looked at the clock to see whether it was around 6 p.m. to carry out his daily ritual of lighting the lamp at their Buddhist shrine. He said though they ran through the back towards the jungle they could not run far as the terrain was full of thorny vegetation and they were not even wearing any footwear.They had clearly heard the camp commander a sergeant major who was caught outside the camp when the attack came shouting to his men “gahapang, gahapang” ( attack, attack) before he himself was cut down.

From the shouting of the attackers it was clear to them, the Tiger contingent was mostly made up of young boys and girls and it was also led by a girl and a boy. As the firing died down after about half an hour they had thought of retrieving his cell phone which he had left in his quarters, but when they were inching towards their quarters adjoining the bungalow there was a thunderous explosion. There upon they again ran and climbed a tree. There had also been the sound of an approaching vehicle. Soon after hearing of this sound the attackers had withdrawn.

According to Jagath they had not come out of hiding till the following morning and that too on seeing two fellow bungalow caretakers from Varahana, who had accompanied soldiers to the scene. The vehicle concerned was a defender jeep belonging to the Park which was going around the park delivering basic supplies like batteries to solar panels, vim, harpic, etc to get the bungalows ready for the following day’s opening.

The jeep incident clearly shows the attackers did not want to take unnecessary risks. The arrival of the jeep had also saved the Talgasmankada bungalow from destruction possibly for the third time. The Tigers had previously destroyed the same bungalow in August 1986 and June 1996. This time because of the jeep they had fled without torching the bungalow, but just before they left they had torched its store room, which adjoins the caretakers’ quarters.

The jeep and its occupants too had a close shave when a group of Tigers waiting in ambush on the approach road opened fire with a machine gun and other fire arms, but it escaped any major harm thanks to the quick thinking of its driver Piyal Chandana.According to Piyal they left the Yala office on Monday with supplies around 4:30 p.m. accompanied by Deputy Warden Asanka Gunawardena, Senior Ranger D.D. Samaranayake, an accounts assistant and a game guard.

Having supplied Maha Seelawa, Old Buthuwa and New Buthuwa bungalows, they were about three kilometres down the road to Talgasmankada. By this time their guard post at Heenwewa had heard heavy firing and had phoned the park office at Palatupana. Thereupon the Palatupana office had contacted them and told them to be on alert.

On hearing this information, ranger Samaranayake wanted to proceed to investigate, but Piyal had refused to go any further and abruptly turned the vehicle and sped to return, but before they could advance even 200 metres, they had been confronted by a hail of gun fire. Quick thinking Piyal had switched off the headlights and kept pressing on the accelerator and managed to reach office by 7 p.m. It had been a miracle escape for all of them without a scratch.

One machine gun bullet that had struck the bonnet had left a wide gash, but fortunately it had apparently ricocheted off the engine block. Another bullet that hit the side of the jeep had missed the legs of the person who sat on the front passenger seat by inches and struck the battery. At least two other bullets had pierced the front left rim.