Tigers’ Delft plan goes awry as Security Forces enhance vigilance

Claymore exploded in Colombo to divert Forces’ attention from North-East

The prime aim of the LTTE was to create panic among the public in Delft island as they were well aware of the fact that they cannot hold the area facing Security Forces’ resistance.

LTTE’s DESPERATE MEASURES: The LTTE broke a month-long silence yesterday with a major attempt to overrun the Navy detachment in Delft island in the wee hours of yesterday and making yet another attempt to create panic among the public by exploding a claymore mine targeting an Army bus in Colombo.

The events unfolded yesterday as Security Forces and also the public were on alert about a pending air attack by the LTTE targeting a security or economic nerve centre in Colombo or in the North or East.

Through these attacks the LTTE once again displayed their unpredictable nature of their missions and also their

 desperation to boost its image at a time the Tiger presence is shrinking to a limited part of the North East in the face of Security Forces operations.

The incident in Delft in the wee hours of yesterday clearly indicates that the LTTE has not given up their idea of capturing Jaffna, which is considered the nerve centre of their activities.

The Security Forces, though not precise about LTTE attacks, were on alert about desperate missions by the Tiger outfit as they were in total desperation now that they have totally lost control over the population in the Jaffna peninsula.

Their attempt to launch an attack of this nature, with the intention of overrunning the defences in Delft island was a reaction to their failed attempt to antagonise the civilian population against the Security Forces.

However, Naval troops foiled the attempts made by the LTTE for a sea borne attack on the Naval troops on guard at the Delft island with Naval troops detecting the suspicious Tiger boat movement in the sea off Pooneryn on Wednesday midnight.

The signals detected by the Navy indicated the movement of 18 LTTE boats and Dvoras identified that six out of the 18 were suicide boats. Around 100 Sea Tiger cadres have come on boats with the intention to infiltrate their cadres into the island and create panic among the public in the island.

The Naval troops at the Navy detachment at the southern tip of the Delft island fired at two boats which had tried to beach at the Delft island and deploy their cadres.

One suicide boat exploded due to naval fire and another armed craft was destroyed close to the Naval detachment.

As the fierce fighting continued, the Navy lost communications with one of the guard points at the Naval detachment when it came under Tiger fire.

But heavy firing by the Navy foiled the main objective of the LTTE to deploy their cadres in the island. The battle again switched to the sea as Dvora swere engaged in fleeing the Tiger boats.

The arrival of reinforcement by this time, compelled the LTTE to withdraw from the area along with their damaged boats amidst heavy resistance from the Navy.

The Dvoras fired at the fleeing Tiger boats and at first light the Navy called for the assistance of fighter jets of the Sri Lanka Air Force to destroy the fleeing Tiger boats.

The fighter jets engaged the fleeing Tiger boats which were about to land at Nachchikuda, destroying three of their boats. Two boats had caught fire in the air attack, according to the pilots of the fighter jets.

As the fighting ceased by yesterday morning the Navy carried out a search operation in the island in search of the sailors who had lost communications with others and also to check whether Tiger cadres had infiltrated the area.

During this search operation Naval troops found four injured sailors and the bodies of the four sailors killed during the confrontation.

However, the Navy denied the statement made by Tiger spokesman Ilanthirayan that the Navy camp was overrun by the Sea Tigers, killing 35 sailors.

According to the Navy only one guard point was destroyed in the Tiger attack.

The Navy, through the intercepted radio transmissions of the LTTE confirmed that 18 Tiger cadres had perished in the Sea battle off the coast of Delft island.

The prime aim of the LTTE was to create panic among the public in Delft island as they were well aware of the fact that they cannot hold the area facing Security Forces’ resistance.

However, the Security Forces were in preparation to face this type of attack by the LTTE as the Tigers had made several attempts earlier to infiltrate Kayts island with the intention of capturing Jaffna.

The Tiger outfit is making use of this tactic to infiltrate Jaffna as this is the easiest way to infiltrate Jaffna peninsula and create mayhem using minimum force.

The LTTE hierarchy is well aware that it would be a costlier task for them to infiltrate highly fortified FDLs at Muhamalai, Kilaly and Nagarkovil at this juncture as they are running short of manpower. Deploying a bigger number of cadres for such a task would definitely put them in a disadvantageous position considering the battle front in Madhu.

The defeats faced by the LTTE in the Eastern theatre also positioned them in a most disadvantageous situation as much needed manpower is not available with them at this decisive juncture in which their strongholds in the Wanni are due to fall into the hands of the Security Forces.

What the LTTE wanted at this decisive juncture was not to win the hearts and minds of the Tamil community but to keep the Tamil community under their fold to be used as a shield to prevent attacks by the Security Forces.

The frequent mortar attacks launched on Omanthai and Uyilankulam entry exit points during the past one week clearly demonstrate the LTTE’s intention to keep the Tamil people under their fold as they were sure their territory would soon be challenged by the Security Forces.

The International Committee of Red Cross withdrew from Omanthai and Uyilanakulam entry exit points considering the security of their officers on duty.

They observed the way the LTTE forcibly kept Tamil civilians in their areas against their will despite the

 Government taking steps to open the entry exit points ensuring the freedom movement of the Tamil people.

An incident that took place on Monday revealed how Tamil youth are challenging the LTTE daring the guns directed at them to cross into the cleared areas through Omanthai entry exit point.

The two Tamil youth aged 26 and 27 who had waited for more than 12 hours at the Omanthai entry exit point to seek clearance from the LTTE to enter cleared areas, crossed the checkpoint in their van as they realised it was useless to wait there to get their permission.

The Tigers opened fire at the fleeing youth amidst the presence of the ICRC observers. However, the two youth reached the Omanthai entry exit point amidst Tiger fire. It was a clear indication that the LTTE was keeping these civilians against their will.

However,the Tiger outfit will see a large number of civilians daring the guns of the Tiger cadres seeking their freedom from the Tiger cells in the coming months as witnessed in the East with the launch of operations by the Security Forces to free the Tamil civilians from the Tiger grip.

The Security Forces should keep this pressure continuously if they are to see an end to the terror acts of the LTTE. They should keep this pressure without losing the ground they have captured in the East to the LTTE and also without giving any room for the LTTE to infiltrate these territories to disrupt normal civilian life.

The Security Forces in the East are now engaged in the task of flushing out such threats from these newly liberated areas.

The Special Task Force and the Army on Wednesday carried out such an operation in Eravur and came out with a big haul of weapons of the LTTE. They killed eight to 10 Tiger cadres who had infiltrated the area mingling with the civilians.

According to Security Forces there are a large number of armouries yet to be uncovered in the newly liberated areas and their recovery would help restore civil administration in these areas. If they remain uncovered, it would help unarmed LTTE cadres to infiltrate these areas to havoc using these arms and ammunition.

Therefore, the conduct of such operations by the Security Forces has put the LTTE cadres in a more desperate situation in the East and they now have a dire need to take the attention of the Security Forces away from these areas.

The claymore mine explosion at Reclamation road, Colombo Fort targeting a bus taking soldiers relieved of their duties at Security Check points in an around Colombo was such a desperate act perpetrated by the LTTE.

The bomb targeted the Army bus carrying soldiers close to Wimaladharma roundabout at Reclamation road.

One soldier injured in the claymore attack succumbed to his injuries after being admitted to the Colombo National hospital and three other soldiers and three civilians sustained injuries in the claymore attack.

Though initially it was suspected as a suicide mission by motorcycle riding suicide cadres it was later revealed as a claymore attack.

The claymore mine had been placed on the handle of a motorbicycle parked at Reclamation road and detonated using a remote control device.

The bomb had struck the upper part of the bus body due to the angle the claymore mine was placed on the handle of the motorbicycle.

Fortunately only four soldiers were in the bus at the time of the explosion which was used to transport nearly 20 to 30 soldiers to the 23 SLNG camp at Mattakkuliya.

Police investigations are now on to detain the person who had detonated the bomb using a remote control device. The most alarming factor behind this incident concerns the place where it had happened.

The incident took place few metres away from the main gate of the Colombo Port and it has been suspected that the person who had detonated the claymore mine could have been hiding in a multi-storeyed building closer to the scene.

Therefore, it is time to maintain vigilance as the Tiger outfit may use this operation to launch attacks on the Colombo port using these abandoned buildings.

The Tigers also intensified their endeavours to bring international pressure on the Government pressing for a just solution for the Tamil grievances and inferring the human rights violations.

Under these circumstances it is incumbent upon the Security Forces to make a united effort to intensify search operations, to foil attempts by the Tigers to create mayhem in Colombo, to strengthen the victories gained in the East.