Security Forces victory in the East key to protecting the North

National security: The country's sovereignty and national security have always been the topmost priority for the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration. From the very first date he became the Executive President, he left no room for the deterioration of the national security.

It is not a mere exaggeration for anyone to describe the achievements of the Rajapaksa administration in the past 15 months, as the highest achievements ever made by any Government within the past 30 years, specially concerning national security and counter terrorism measures.

The measures taken by the Rajapaksa administration has been appreciated and endorsed not only by locals but also by the international community as the results of these measures have been clearly demonstrated to the world.

But all those achievements of the Rajapaksa administration with the support of the valiant Security Forces and the Police in the spheres of national security came under scathing criticism last week.

The criticism came not from the ordinary people or from the Opposition or even from the LTTE itself but from a Minister who has been sacked from his Ministerial portfolio by the President a week ago.

Though the citizens of this country expected vibrant arguments over political issues they never expected so mean a statement from a responsible person like a former Minister, belittling the achievements of the Security Forces in the East.

One cannot imagine how soldiers having spent weeks in the jungle patches of Vakarai and Verugal without decent meals, with the clear objective of defeating terrorism were hurt by these words, if they had heard the very words the former Minister uttered about the Security Forces' victories in Vakarai.

It was in this backdrop President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday asked Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa to brief the Government Parliamentary group meeting on the security situation to give a clear a picture about what was going on in the spheres of national security.

This was the very first occasion any President got the Defence Secretary to brief the Government Parliamentary group meeting.

The Defence Secretary very explicitly made use of the opportunity given to him to educate and explain the rationale behind all the steps taken by President Rajapaksa during the past 15 months.

He briefed the Government Parliamentary group the way President Rajapaksa was briefed by the Chief of Defence Staff and the three Forces Commanders about the LTTE capabilities, the strength of the LTTE and also the readiness of the Security Forces to face any impending threat from the LTTE.

In other words, the President has received a complete assessment of the situation and the future intentions of the Tiger outfit from the CDS and the three Forces Commanders.

The President made it clear to the two neighbours India and Pakistan, during his visits, the threat from the LTTE to the country though the Tiger outfit was outwardly committed to a peaceful negotiation.

The Security Forces Commanders were also of the opinion that LTTE was not genuinely committed to a negotiated settlement and were making use of the Ceasefire Agreement for their military achievements.

They have very clearly observed how the LTTE was using the CFA agreement for their advantage to infiltrate Government controlled areas, the use of political offices to smuggle weapons, recruit children to the organisation, to develop a Civilian Force called 'Makkal Padai' and purchase and bring in a large haul of weapons from foreign countries to strengthen their firepower.

Following this presentation made to the President by the CDS and the three Forces Commanders President Rajapaksa gave directions to the Security Forces to prepare for any eventuality, restructuring the Security Forces, readjusting the defences, reconstructing the bunker lines, and preparing the Security Forces for counter attacks and providing them with proper training.

When the LTTE realised that Security Forces were preparing for any eventuality they commenced attacking the Security Forces and the Police by way of claymore mine explosions.

The Security Forces reacted to those incidents by taking only defensive action. It was only at Mavil Aru that the Security Forces went beyond this when the LTTE went on an offensive underestimating the preparedness of the Security Forces.

Even this offensive was planned to protect more than 10,000 families (around 30,000 people) who were being deprived of water. It was a humanitarian mission in all aspects as the objective of the Security Forces was to open the sluice gates of the Mavil Aru anicut to restore the water supply to more than 30,000 people and for their paddy cultivations.

The CDS and the three Forces Commanders were proved right as military actions taken of the LTTE were in line with their predictions.

What the LTTE needed through their offensives against the Security Forces in the East was to capture Trincomalee town, destroy the Naval dockyard and all the Naval assets there, thereby completely blocking the supplies to the Jaffna peninsula.

The LTTE wanted to launch an attack on Trincomalee while attacking the troops in Jaffna from the Southern front with a simultaneous landing in Kayts to launch an attack on Jaffna town.

The Security Forces were able to foil their plan to capture the Jaffna peninsula as the Security Forces prepared for such an attempt by the LTTE. The LTTE plan was to cut off the supplies to more than 50,000 to 60,000 Security Forces personnel in the Jaffna peninsula since Trincomalee was the only connecting point to the Jaffna peninsula by sea apart from the air link with the Palaly airport.

The Tigers gave top priority to capture Trincomalee harbour since the Palaly airbase was already within their artillery range.

These facts very precisely proved the fact that the capture of Trincomalee harbour was an essential part of their plans to capture the Jaffna peninsula.

It was in this context that the Security Forces took measures to clear the areas surrounding the Trincomalee harbour including Muttur, Sampur, kattaparichchan and Ithalampattu to flush out the LTTE threats and keep the Trincomalee harbour out of artillery range of the LTTE.

The Security Forces conducted operations in Trincomalee as it was essential to prevent any action by the LTTE to harm the assets at the Trincomalee harbour.

If not for the steps taken by the Security Forces, it would have brought disastrous consequences for the Security Forces in their bid to prevent the LTTE from capturing the Jaffna peninsula.

Therefore, it very clearly shows the importance of taking complete control of the East to do anything in the North.

If Security Forces had not taken control of the East the LTTE would have fought in multiple fronts in their bid to take control of the Jaffna peninsula putting the Security Forces at a very disadvantageous position.

The other side of the story is that now the LTTE faces a more disadvantageous position since they will have to face multiple fronts if they make any attempt to capture Jaffna or to come out of the defences in the Wanni. The briefing given by Defence Secretary to the Government Parliamentary group was appreciated by a Minister from the UNP reformist group - who was deeply involved in the peace process during the UNF regime.

He openly admitted the fact that what they lacked during the UNF regime was the lack of preparedness for any eventuality on the part of the Security Forces and President Rajapaksa had handled the situation in a very professional manner.

Therefore, no person can underestimate or belittle the achievements of the Security Forces in the East saying they had invaded deserted lands in face of tactical withdrawals by the LTTE.

The Forces have scaled these summits as they kept their dedication and commitment at the highest level.

The Government has been able to ensure the highest commitment on the part of the Security Forces at every level towards one direction whereas all other Governments failed in this task for the past 25 years due to their lack of commitment to reach such objectives.

It has been a very difficult to get the mindset of the Security Forces towards one direction. But it takes no time to distract their mindset from their commitment.

Therefore, it is the duty of the each and every patriotic citizen not to demoralise the Security Forces and distract their mindset from their commitment. If somebody acts in that manner it is unforgivable and unpatriotic.

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Civilians' cooperation a strength to Security Forces

Capture: As the Security Forces took almost full control of the East with the capture of Vakarai and the Tiger hideouts in Ampara, the Northern front has now become a hot topic among all quarters of society.

Even though Trincomalee has been the favoured capital of the imaginary Tamil Eelam, the LTTE would make every effort to take control of Jaffna peninsula. Without Jaffna, any achievement by the LTTE would be negligible.

But, will it be an easy task for the LTTE to capture Jaffna peninsula according to the manner in which the Security Forces are operating in the peninsula during the past few months after the closure of the A-9 road from Muhamalai?

The Security Forces are engaged in internal security operations within the peninsula on a daily basis and they are now receiving tremendous support from the civilian population there.

The recovery of 690 Kilos of C4 explosives from a house in Ariyalai was one of the major success stories of the Security Forces search and clear operations in the peninsula to flush out Tiger threats.

The Security Forces were able to recover the biggest-ever haul of explosives from the Jaffna peninsula as they received accurate information from the civilians.

The message given through this is a positive one. That means the civilians no longer tolerate terror acts of the LTTE within the peninsula.

Though the LTTE is still capable of infiltrating the Jaffna peninsula to launch suicide attacks and claymore mine attacks, they are not in a position to launch a major assault on the Security Forces due to the immense public support the Forces are having in the peninsula.

Even the most recent incident at St. Mary's Church in Jaffna in which one Catholic priest gave information to the Security Forces about the suspicious behaviour of LTTE cadres inside the Church premises provides clear evidence to prove the extent of support extended to the Security Forces for combatting terror acts.

The recent visit by Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe in the peninsula also gives a clear picture of the willingness of the people there in the peninsula to cooperate with the Security Forces and the Government.

Even the Bishop of Jaffna Rt. Rev. Dr. Thomas Saundranayagam has endorsed the fact that Security Forces were doing a fantastic job in providing humanitarian assistance to the people there.

The Minister has also had follow-up meetings with the President and the Defence Secretary to iron out the issues related to getting much needed building material shipments to the Jaffna peninsula.

It is highly impossible for the LTTE to infiltrate Jaffna and launch a major attack on the Security Forces given the larger number of LTTE casualties reported from many parts of Wanni. Therefore, if LTTE is planning any offensive the biggest possibility lies in the Wanni region from Mannar to Weli Oya.

The arrival of civilians to the Government held areas is also an indication that LTTE is in the process of building up their positions in the Wanni by forcibly recruiting youth to their organisation.

The LTTE may opt to attack this line as it would not be difficult for them to break off the bunker lines since soldiers are deployed on a longer stretch.

That will enable them to concentrate on one area very likely in the Mannar region if they are planning an offensive.

But it will be impossible for the LTTE to hold on to the ground they capture as the Security Forces can easily recapture any territory captured by the LTTE at any given time.

Therefore, it can be predicted that the LTTE may resort to an operation to inflict damage on the Security Forces or the Police instead of launching a major offensive as predicted by many.

However, the situation is more favourable to the Security Forces given the fact that they have already taken full control over the East except for a few LTTE pockets in the Thoppigala jungles, with the ability to make use of its full force against any LTTE attempt to launch a major offensive as the country marks the completion of five years of the Ceasefire Agreement.