Relentless Assault

by Ajit Kumar Singh

(November 25, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Gaurdian) With the fall of Pooneryn, the Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam’s (LTTE) ‘military headquarters’ located on the North-Western coast, Sri Lankan troops have launched a three pronged attack towards their final objective, Kilinochchi town, the Political Headquarters of the Tigers.

Though the capture of Pooneryn far from the end of the war, it has deprived the LTTE of access to the entire Western coast, cutting of its supply lines via the sea, and has also neutralised all Sea Tiger (the sea wing of the LTTE) bases. How much this will affect the LTTE’s military supply is yet to be seen. Janes’s Defence Weekly, in a November 16, 2008, report, stated that it was in a position to confirm that the LTTE made at least one attempt to transport a consignment of artillery rounds by air to rebel-controlled areas in the Wanni. Commercial satellite imagery obtained by Jane's also confirmed that, between 2004 and 2007, the rebels constructed two airstrips that could handle aircraft capable of transporting weapons’ cargo from Central or Southeast Asia.

The Tigers have now been confined to the areas east of the Jaffna-Kandy (A-9) Road. The Security Forces (SFs), having launched their operations from the Mannar-Vavuniya Road, have advanced nearly 90 kilometres, and have brought Pooneryn – which fell to the LTTE in November 1992 after one of the fiercest battle fought ever between the SFs and the Tigers, with more than 300 troops killed and over 300 troops missing – under their control.

Infantrymen of the 12 Gamunu Watch and the 10 Gajaba Regiment attached to the 58th Division or Task Force 1, negotiating the marshlands south of Pooneryn and cutting off the Pooneryn-Paranthan (B-69) Road close to Nallur, marched about 10-kilometres along the B-69 and entered Pooneryn town at dawn on November 15, 2008. "Task Force 1 troops, having liberated Pooneryn, are now engaged in mop-up operations in Pooneryn. Troops are now clearing their way towards Kalmunai Point (K-Point) along the 20 kilometre-long narrow land stretch where the LTTE terrorists used to station their artillery and mortar batteries," the Defence Ministry stated. At the time of writing, the troops were moving towards Parantan, the key junction located on the A-9 Road in the north of Kilinochchi and are currently at a striking distance of about 1.6 kilometres from Kilinochchi town. According to military officials, the LTTE had constructed a 10 to 11 kilometre-long earth bund (embankment) covering Kilinochchi town and the A-9 Road from the western front, along which the 57th and 58th Divisions are targeting Kilinochchi.

Addressing the nation following the fall of Pooneryn, President Mahinda Rajapakse declared that the military victory at Pooneryn reiterated his commitment to a political solution to the conflict in the country and called on the LTTE leader to lay down arms and come to negotiations. The President declared, "I inform the people in this country that our heroic soldiers have been able to liberate the full stretch of the A-32 Road (Mannar-Pooneryn) and the Pooneryn area this morning. Now, we can open a land route to the Jaffna Peninsula after many years; I think we can say, it was after the Second Eelam war (sic). At this moment, I very clearly call Prabhakaran of LTTE to immediately lay down your arms and come to the negotiation table. It is the greatest service that you can do to the people in the Wanni."

Earlier, on November 12, 2008, troops had captured the entire triangular Devil’s Point to the west of the Mannar–Pooneryn (A-32) Road. Before this, troops of the 58th Division had moved towards Pooneryn after capturing the LTTE’s Valayakudiyurippumoddai Forward Defence Line (FDL) in the Kilinochchi District, killing over 30 militants and recovering five militant dead bodies on November 11, 2008. On the same day, the SFs had captured the Palavi fishing village in the west of the A-32 Road. Similarly, on November 10, troops attached to the 58th Division took control of Kiranchi, one of the Sea Tiger bases on the North Western coast. Kiranchi, located northwest of Nachchakuda, which fell to the SFs on October 29, was captured by the 58th Division as troops completely cut off the land area from the north of Nachchakuda to the south of Chempankundu on the A-32 Road, up to the seventh Mile post.

Pooneryn’s strategic location made it vital for the SFs to gain control over the area before a final assault could be mounted against Kilinochchi town and Mullaitivu. As troops stationed at Jaffna are crucial to the final outcome of the war, the Forces will need an unhindered supply of men and material when the war intensifies in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu. The fall of Pooneryn will enable the SFs to open the A-32 Road, paving the way for a land route to Jaffna, since the only other route, the A-9 Road, has remained closed since the outbreak of the war. The opening of the A-32 Road provides the supply route to Jaffna, and will embolden the Forces stationed there, and will also help stranded civilians. The troops can, consequently, now move their artillery in Jaffna to launch pads against the Tiger’s FDLs in Jaffna. Control over Pooneryn will also safeguard Jaffna town and Jaffna Islands, since Pooneryn was the LTTE’s artillery base for bombardments on these areas. The foremost gain of this military success, however, has been the SF’s ability to neutralise the LTTE’s FDLs in Jaffna and march southward towards Kilinochchi opening a new front in the battle for Kilinochchi.

On November 20, Sri Lanka Army’s (SLA’s) 53rd Division and 55th Division, operating on the Muhamalai and Kilali FDLs in Jaffna, took full control of the LTTE’s heavily fortified first defence lines north and south of the A-9 Road, after five days of fighting and inflicting heavy damage to the LTTE. Troops, which advanced some 500 to 800 meters from the original SF FDL to attack the LTTE’s first defence line, killed more than 75 Tiger cadres during the operation. The Army also suffered a number of casualties in the battle within the first few days due to heavy volumes of LTTE artillery and mortar attacks coming from Sorampattu area in the south of Muhamalai. The pro-LTTE website Tamil Net on November 20 claimed that at least 130 Sri Lanka Army soldiers lost their lives and more than 450 were wounded in the offensive, within the preceding three days, on the Kilali and Muhamalai fronts. Military sources claimed that the troops were now confronting LTTE cadres who had withdrawn to their second defence line, located some 600 meters behind the first defence line, and the third defence line located nearly one kilometre south of the first defence line. The LTTE has created huge earth bunds and heavily mined the area to impede the advance of the troops. The LTTE had withdrawn to the second defence line after the SFs had captured their original first defence line during fighting that broke out on August 11, 2006.

Troops have also recently inflicted heavy damages on the LTTE on other war fronts. On November 17, 2008, the SFs captured the strategically important Kumulamunai village south of Mullaitivu. The troops entered the village, located 12-km south of Mullaitivu, after capturing 21 LTTE bunkers located between Tannimurippukulam and Kumulamunai. According to military officials, Kumulamunai is the first built-up area after crossing the Andankulam Forest Reserve south of Mullaitivu. On the same day, troops captured the strategically important town of Mankulam on the A-9 road. The town is a key junction on the A-9 Highway, with roads leading to Mullaitivu to the East, Vellankulam to the West, Kilinochchi to the North and Omanthai to the South. On November 5, troops had overrun the Akkarayankulam built-up area in the Kilinochchi District.

Addressing the weekly Cabinet Press Briefing in Parliament on November 20, 2008, Media and Information Minister and Cabinet Spokesman Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, refuting certain media reports and allegations, reiterated that the LTTE has been completely defeated and driven out of Pooneryn and Mankulam with absolutely no possibilities of a come-back. Yapa categorically stated, "This is in no way a ‘tactical pull-out’ as some critics strive to portray. They used all means at their disposal, such as the construction of bunds and various other obstacles on our path, to prevent us from reaching there. Losing the A-32 route has been a major blow to them." Stressing that control over Pooneryn and the A-32 route had paved the way to open up a roadway from Colombo to Pooneryn and then to the Jaffna peninsula, Yapa added, "We are in a very strong position now, with LTTE’s hopes and aspirations of re-gaining their lost territory a myth."

Prior to these developments, Army Commander Lt. General Sarath Fonseka, on November 3, 2008, had declared that over 80 per cent of the war against the LTTE had been completed after regaining 80 per cent of the areas under them, and killing over 12,000 of their cadres. The Army Commander stated, "At the inception of the war they did not have a 12,000-strength, but we are confident that 12,000 of their cadres were killed during the past two and half years as they recruited a large number of cadres to the outfit to strengthen their depleting ranks. We are sure that we will be able to see an end to this war soon though we cannot give deadlines to reach this task (sic)." General Fonseka’s term was extended on November 17 for another year, effective from December 18, 2008.

Though the advance of Government troops has, so far, been unexpectedly speedy, progress may now slow down. With casualty figures already reaching at least 9,316 (98 civilians, 836 soldiers and 8,382 militants) on the Northern Front since January 1, 2008, according to the data complied by the Institute for Conflict Management (reflecting severe underestimates of fatalities since Colombo suspended the release of casualty figures on the fighting in the North of the country since October 24), the war is now expected to be bloodier. More collateral civilian casualties cannot be ruled out, as the LTTE has moved most civilians in its areas of control between Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi. In the absence of any credible source of information from the warfront, more confusion inevitable, adding to Colombo’s woes as the international community – prominently including India – increases pressure on the President Mahinda Rajapakse Government to ensure the security of civilians.

As LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran prepares to deliver his Mahaveer Day (Heroes’ Day) speech on November 27, 2008, he will come under excruciating pressures to deliver some results that can shore up his cadres’ flagging morale. That can only mean more bloodshed, but the LTTE is now no more than a shadow of what it once was. The relentless advances of the SFs over the past months have already culminated in their direct assault on Kilinochchi, and survival – rather than pride or dominance – is going to be the principal imperative dictating LTTE action from this point on. - Sri Lanka Guardian