Forces repulse Tiger 'waves' as Kilinochchi beckons

The battle on the Kilinochchi battlefront has reached this new momentum turning the battle into one of the most decisive phases within the past two weeks commencing from the September 14 when troops changed the axis of the battlefront towards new direction.

The battlefront in Kilinochchi is becoming more and more intense and reached new heights this week with troops going further towards the outskirts of Kilinochchi town after seven days of continuous fighting from September 14 to 21.

The fighting erupted east of Akkarayankulam tank and several kilometres south of the southern boundary of Kilinochchi town close to the A-9 road.

Field Commanders including Battalion Commanders and Brigade Commanders were on red alert and continuously hanging onto their radio sets in their makeshift huts just a few hundred meters from the front whilst reading the maps to get an accurate feedback from the troops operating on the front.

Each and every minute they were fulfilling the requirements of the troops operating in the front taking indirect artillery and mortar shoots towards the requested targets observed by the troops who were confronting waves of Tiger cadres making their best effort to defend their most important township Kilinochchi.

They were spending sleepless nights without having a proper rest, even having no chance to change their uniforms or to have a fresh meal with a free mind. The situation of the troops at artillery and mortar positions also remained the same as artillery guns were activated every three minutes to take on the LTTE targets giving sleepless nights and no rest.

Therefore, there is no need to explain the situation about the troops on the battlefront as they were facing the enemy head on in one of the most fierce battles that has erupted for the first time in two years of fighting the LTTE commencing from the East.

The medical staff at the Advance Dressing Stations are also giving their maximum support to save the lives of soldiers who sustain injuries in the battlefront whilst Air Force helicopters reached their destinations for rapid transportation of casualties towards hospitals.

The battle on the Kilinochchi battlefront has reached this new momentum turning the battle into one of the most decisive phases within the past two weeks commencing from the September 14 when troops changed the axis of the battlefront towards new direction.

The situation changed so rapidly after troops attached to the 571 Brigade under the command of Colonel G.V. Ravipriya observing that LTTE was constructing another huge earth bund from East of Akkarayan tank towards the A-9 road on the Iranamadu area.

A sudden decision was taken on that day to change the axis of the 57 Division battlefront towards east of Akkarayankulam to foil the attempts of the LTTE to construct another huge earth bund like in the West of Akkarayankulam tank to Nachchikuda.

This sudden move by the troops confused the LTTE compelling them to make use of their well trained cadres to thwart the troops advance towards Kilinochchi and towards A-9 road. The Special Forces troops led the troops in Akkarayankulam East as the day dawned on September 15.

The SF troops confronted a bunker line of the LTTE in the eastern flank of the Akkarayankulam tank and in the West of Murikkandi consisting of nine Tiger bunkers. Fierce fighting erupted in this stretch around 10 am on September 15 inflicting heavy damage to the LTTE and inducting troops close to Nachchikuda Kokavil road that links to the A-9 road from the Murikkandi temple area.

The troops attached to the 572 Brigade under the command of Lt. Colonel Senarath Bandara who has been promoted a full Colonel last Sunday on merit basis considering his seniority and performance, fought back with the LTTE consolidating the area.

Since then there were massive counter attacks by the LTTE to recapture the area dominated by the Security Forces in the east of Akkaraynkulam and also in Murikkandi and Kokavil areas.

It was amidst heavy fighting in east of Akkarayankulam that a small group operating east of Akkarayankulam lost communication with the operations room.

Twenty two soldiers went missing on the September 15 night but reported back on September 16 morning with the latest news about the gas attack they faced. That was the first instance the LTTE had fired CS gas into the battlefront.

Though there were contradictory reports about the gas attacks not a single soldier had died due to this gas attacks since it caused no deadly effects on soldiers.

This gas attacks have now become frequent as almost all the battalions attached to the 572 Brigade 8 and 10 Sri Lanka Light Infantry battalions, 4 Sinha Regiment and 3 Gajaba Regiment who were operating in the East of Akkarayankulam and West of Murikkandi had faced these CS gas attacks on different occasions.

Troops are well equipped to face these gas attacks with thousands of gas masks being sent to the battlefront for the use of the soldiers in the battlefront. The troops attached to the 573 Brigade have also faced this situation on different occasions.

Therefore, the LTTE has now entered into a do or die battle as they have observed the real feeling of their definite defeat in Kilinochchi since there is no other option but to send their cadres wave after wave to face the advancing troops.

But none of their counter offensive operations has become successful even after deploying their cadres wave after wave. In the two years of fighting since 2006 troops have been able to take the upper hand in all their counter attacks with the help of the superior fire power and the air support given by the Sri Lanka Air Force.

Over 100 Tiger cadres have been reportedly killed during confrontations in the east of Akkarayankulam from September 14 to 22 whilst a similar numbers of Tiger cadres have been confirmed injured in these counter attacks. One officer and four soldiers have also been killed during this battle whilst 43 soldiers sustained injuries. One of the prominent features in this battle is all these cadres killed in these battle belonged to RPG teams and MPMG teams. They were also from the elite Imran Pandyan and Charles Anthony Brigades.

In the midst of these battles the LTTE leadership faces diverse problems as many of the lower level cadres questioned them about the supply of food, water and ammunition to the cadres operating on the front. The LTTE is confronted with a huge problem over casualty evacuation as they lacked transport facilities.

They were not getting even artillery support though they were equipped with enough 60 mm, 80 mm and 120 mm mortars. Therefore, the day is not too far for the ground level cadres to defy the orders of the senior level cadres and also in return the senior level cadres to defy the orders of top brass of the LTTE as all their supplies are restricted from all directions from the sea and by land.

Amidst this situation the LTTE is facing an acute shortage of cadres on the Kilinochchi front. They used to bring in their reinforcements from the Jaffna front. But many of the reinforced teams also faced the same destiny at the hands of the Security Forces as they leave no room for them to recapture the ground they have lost.

The important factor here is that this area has now become a killing zone for the Security Forces as they were able to neutralise the wave type attacks from the LTTE killing a majority of them and removing them from the battlefront permanently.

The Tigers have to defend each and every inch of the vital land south of Kilinochchi as they have no other place to make their usual tactical withdrawals once this terrain is captured by the Security Forces. Troops are now operating only three and a half kilometres off the outskirts of Kilinochchi town and almost reached the edge of the A-9 road in Kokavil area. The link between Nachchikuda and Kokavil has also been cut off with the domination of this road by the troops from east of Akkarayan to west of Murikkandi temple. The denial of this route to the LTTE ends with the LTTE losing their connection with Nachchikuda the north of Mulangavil. Within the next few days the LTTE will be denied of free movement on the A-9 road from Murikkandi to Mankulam and also towards Omanthai once troops cut off this route to neutralise the threats coming from the LTTE from the A-9 road direction.

The effects on the A 9 road will also be reinforced once the 573 Brigade under the command of Lt. Colonel Prathap Thillerkaratne also moves towards A9 road from Kokavil South to Mankulam.

With those developments the battle in Kilinochchi South and Southwest of Kilinochchi has turned into one that would definitely decide the future of the Tiger outfit and its dying capability to bring liberation to the Tamil community after wasting the huge amount of money pumped to the Tiger outfit by the Tamil diaspora across the globe.

All what they were lying to the Tamil Diaspora across the globe through their propaganda and media machinery will be exposed once the troops enter Kilinochchi town and capture each and every inch of land in Kilinochchi town.

Therefore, the Tamil Diaspora who are toiling in foreign countries and filling the coffers of the LTTE and those who are working for LTTE fund raising campaigns will have to repent once they see the actual result of their life long act of trusting a megalomaniac like Prabhakaran as their saviour.

They will realise the consequences as the Security Forces have decided to launch their maximum pressure to achieve this task with more and more troops being inducted into the battlefront and exerting maximum pressure on the LTTE from all fronts from Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Jaffna. Though the LTTE feels that they can manage their cadres effectively as the area under their control has been restricted to a small area they won't be able to afford casualties and deaths at this stage when facing all fronts at once.

This objective is realistic as the troops attached to the 58 Division operating under the command of Brigadier Shavendra Silva have already cleared the path towards Pooneryn with the capture of two to three kilometres stretch of huge earth bund in Karambakulam area in the West of Vannerikulam and East Of Nachchikuda.

The pressure on Mullaitivu has also been increased as the 59 Division under the command of Brigadier Nandana Udawatta also reached the outskirts of the Nayaru lagoon in the South of Mullaitivu.

So the decisiveness of the battle in the Kilinochchi will definitely put the LTTE in the correct place locally and internationally allowing the Tamil community to realise the correct position of the LTTE leader Prabhakaran and also about the LTTE very soon.