Zero Civilian Casualties

Military analysts often use the term collateral damage, which means that apart from the direct combatants, other persons and property are also affected by war and conflict.

The picture was no different here in Sri Lanka until now. It is no secret that thousands of innocent civilians have perished as a result of the war. Countless others have become disabled. One should not also forget the adverse effects on the families of deceased combatants on both sides.

There is a perception that civilian casualties are inevitable in a conflict. So many wars throughout history have more or less proved it. But the Sri Lankan Security Forces are making a difference and are even disproving this. In the first place, they are engaged in a humanitarian mission as opposed to a war, to liberate civilians living under LTTE tyranny in uncleared areas.

This is what they are doing in the North and did successfully in the East. The liberation of the East without even a single civilian casualty was perhaps a unique feat in the history of military conflict. This brought to the fore the Government’s Zero Civilian Casualty Policy, as lucidly explained by Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on Thursday.

The Government has always taken adequate steps to minimise civilian casualties when launching security operations while minimising the damage caused to public institutions and property, Defence Secretary Rajapaksa said. This is indeed why the Government is urging Wanni civilians to come to cleared areas as the Security Forces are poised to enter the last Tiger bastions Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu.

It was always known that the LTTE would fiercely resist a Security Forces advance into these areas and that it would try to use civilians as a human shield. This would naturally pose a major problem to the Forces who are determined not to cause any civilian casualties.

Hence their keenness to ensure that civilians are safely housed in cleared areas before the fierce battles begin. The Government and the Forces are arranging safe passage for civilians in Tiger-dominated areas to come to Vavuniya or other cleared areas.

In the words of the Defence Secretary “we plan to give passage to people from Kilinochchi to come to Vavuniya. We’re dropping leaflets from the air, encouraging people to leave, giving details of routes to take to safety”.

The civilians are being asked to come to Vavuniya. The Government will facilitate them with food, medicine and other requirements. After the military operations they will be resettled in their original places. This process was completed successfully after the regaining of Jaffna in the 1990s and after the liberation of the East last year.

The Zero Civilian Casualty policy is also followed by the Air Force, which has now perfected pinpoint bombing aimed at identified LTTE targets. Extensive surveillance and ground intelligence contribute to this status quo.

While the military takes extra precautions to minimise, if not altogether eliminate, civilian casualties, the LTTE has had no qualms about despatching civilians in their hundreds to the Great Beyond, regardless of their ethnicity.

Yes, the very community that they claim to represent have often been its victims too. The bombs that they exploded in many parts of the country have taken thousands of lives of Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims. Its leaders do not think about giving a rudimentary military training to children and civilians and sending them off to the frontlines, virtually as canon fodder.

It is unlikely that the LTTE will ever give up the practice of using civilians as a cover. They are also likely to take on civilian targets elsewhere in the country.

On the other hand, the Government’s Zero Civilian Casualty Policy has been such a success that even the LTTE propaganda machinery has not been able to say much. The LTTE websites have maintained silence on the matter.

This also means that there no ‘quick fixes’ when it comes to the humanitarian missions. Some demand timeframes for an end to the military campaign, but the need to avoid civilian casualties necessarily means that the missions have to be gradual.

If the civilian factor did not exist, the Forces would have most probably ended the campaign by now.

The Forces must also be commended for not destroying or damaging civilian buildings, even when there was clear evidence that the LTTE was using them for military purposes.

It goes without saying that these buildings could be used for their original purposes once civilian administration is totally established in the newly liberated areas. That is the ultimate goal of these humanitarian missions - restoring democracy for the betterment of civilians.