Abhorrent manifestation of sheer terror

DESPICABLE ACT: The LTTE which failed to demonstrate their commitment towards a negotiated settlement having unilaterally decided not to participate in the talks in Oslo on June 8, raised its ugly head of terrorism again in Kebithigollewa claiming the lives of 64 innocent civilians on Thursday.

The target of the LTTE claymore attack was obvious. It was not the Security Forces but the innocent villagers from Kanugahawewa, Yakawewa, Herathhalimillewa and other Sinhala villages in the far end of the Anuradhapura district who boarded on the only available State- run bus to reach Kebithigollewa to attend to their daily needs.

At the first instance it seems that the LTTE had perpetrated this heinous act, the most serious single act of violence by the LTTE since the signing of the CFA in 2002, to manifest their unusual pattern of terrorism.

But a close analysis of the events that unfolded during the past few weeks proves that the Kebithigollewa incident was a clear manifestation of the desperation of the LTTE to cover up their failures internationally and also their failure to face the Karuna faction threats in their own territory.

Though the LTTE tried to take the Oslo fiasco arranged by the Norwegian facilitators for their advantage by winning the sympathy of the international community they failed to even keep their longtime sympathisers with them following their unilateral decision to boycott the meeting with the Government delegation on June 8 and 9 in Oslo.

The LTTE even disregarded the promising words given to the Norwegian facilitator prior to their departure from the Sri Lankan soil and their action led to earn the apathy of the Norwegians towards the LTTE. Former peace envoy, Minister Erik Solheim squarely blamed the LTTE for scuttling the talks.

In fact, the unilateral acts of the LTTE, clearly manifest that the LTTE is an unpredictable terrorist organisation and further justified the action taken by the EU countries to ban the LTTE.

The bitter experience the LTTE underwent at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) on arrival after their lavish trip in Europe at the expense of the Norwegians must have also been another factor to arouse the wrath of Thamilselvan to command their men to perpetrate such a heinous act and to show that they are still the Tigers sniffing for innocent rabbits.

However, the LTTE which learnt lessons from the Government on two earlier occasions following the suicide attack on the Army Commander and their failed attempt to attack the troop carrying vessel Pearl Cruise II, this time too learnt that this Government is not like the earlier UNF Government.

The Government, despite its commitments to peaceful negotiations, convinced the LTTE that it will no longer tolerate the barbaric acts of the LTTE and that it was ready to take any action when needed.

The Government promptly reacted to the barbaric acts of the LTTE by taking identified targets in Mullaitivu and in Sampur on Thursday noon.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa took another rather unusual move for a President, visiting the victims of the bomb attack at Kebithigollewa hospital even at a risk of his own security.

President Rajapaksa who extended his hand of friendship to the LTTE in his bid to pursue a peaceful solution to the North East gave a clear message that he is not a leader who would be confined to a fortress when the common masses suffer at the hand of brutal terrorism.

But it is very unlikely that LTTE leaders who are fighting for their survival even within their territory in face of threats from the Karuna faction would be in a position to understand any such message.

The threat posed by the Karuna faction has led the LTTE to even abandon their fight for the right to sea operations as they felt that they were losing even the grounds they were holding in the Wanni.

The LTTE seemed to have been very much disturbed by a series of incidents that took place in the uncleared areas in the Batticaloa district and also in the Wanni within the past few days.

The LTTE Peace Secretariat and the propaganda machinery was in the process of adding all such Karuna faction acts to the account of the Security Forces as it was shameful for them to put all the blame onto the Karuna faction.

These incidents, according to information received from the Wanni has compelled the LTTE to give serious thought to their security lapses and methods of overcoming them.

An organisation which followed the tactics of a guerilla organisation is now realising that they can no longer exist by following the same old security measures of a guerilla organisation as the Karuna faction is now posing a clear threat to their leaders.

It was reported that the LTTE had to recruit even dogs into their organisation to guard bunkers as they are in constant fear of their enemy, the Karuna faction.

These dogs have been taken to their bunkers as they can at least bark at the enemy who penetrates their defences as they face a severe shortage of cadres to protect their territory.

The LTTE leaders who used to travel in luxury Pajeros with tinted glasses have now shifted to motorcycles as they feel it is the only vehicle they can avert the claymore attacks of the Karuna faction.

The severe shortage of manpower in the LTTE organisation is also very clearly demonstrated by their plan to provide combat training for all civilians in the Wanni irrespective of their age. Those who defy LTTE orders will have no other option but to face LTTE bullets.

Unable to bear the threats of the Karuna faction the LTTE is using innocent civilians as a shield to ensure their security. It was a proven fact that the LTTE used the innocent civilians as a shield to protect themselves from the Karuna faction attacks in Batticaloa.

The LTTE which always tries to put killed LTTE cadres into the accounts of civilian deaths had to admit that four LTTE members were among the ten killed in the Vadamunai claymore attack on June 7.

Initially the LTTE denied it was an LTTE tractor but information from the uncleared areas in Batticaloa proved it was a tractor driven by LTTE Wanni faction cadres and the incident had taken place on a road which was not even used by the civilians.

The bigger question here is why they have transported civilians including children in a tractor belonging to the LTTE. The reason is very clear - they were taking these innocent civilians as a shield to protect their lives from the Karuna faction without any regard for the civilians' lives.

According to the LTTE a Tiger leader called Mahendi and three more LTTE members were killed as a claymore mine hit the vehicle they were travelling in Vellankulam on June 10.

Not only the LTTE but the Government workers serving in uncleared areas too had to face this situation as a vehicle belonging to the Assistant Government Agent (AGA) for Nedunkerni came under a claymore attack on the Puliyankulam-Nedunkerni Road in Sannasiparanthan.

It was reported that the vehicle of the AGA came under attack as it had been frequently used by the LTTE leaders in the area for their travelling purposes on security reasons.

The LTTE also engaged in desperate attempt to put the blame on the Security Force for all these attacks that took place in the uncleared areas.

The LTTE on June 13 tried to publicise that a soldier was killed in Tamil auxiliary fire on Nedunkerni road between Nainamadu and Puliyankulam as he was planting three claymore mines.

The Defence Ministry countered this false propaganda of the Tiger media machinery saying that the Tigers have used military hardware including communication equipment captured from the Sri Lanka Army during past operations against Security Forces for their advantage to justify their case.

In the same press release the Defence Ministry also stated that an Officer was reported missing from the Forward Defence Line at Omanthai on June 12 and another Officer was reported missing from Vavuniya since June 5.

"The possibility of the body as one of the missing cannot be ruled out. The Tigers have a long history of resorting to the abduction of both military personnel and civilians. The above incident reported on June 14 by the pro-LTTE media could be linked to another instance of LTTE fabrication and false propaganda."

True to the facts given by the Defence Ministry the LTTE propaganda machine posted yet another web article on Thursday on its official website saying that a second SLA soldier was killed in an uncleared area while trying to lay a claymore mine for the second time in three days, on 15 June.

According to the LTTE website the dead soldier was wearing a striped LTTE uniform like the other SLA soldier killed two days ago in an uncleared area of Vavuniya district.

It will be no wonder if it is proven that the LTTE had abducted the two SLA officers and killed them after forcing them to wear LTTE uniforms in a desperate bid to prove the alleged Security Forces involvement in these attacks.

It will further prove the fact that LTTE was doing all these abhorrent acts in their desperation to cover up their failures.