Kilinochchi Victory

Foreign press comments:

South Asia Analysis Group

Marginalisation of LTTE military power

The gains made by the security forces in the year 2008 probably spell the marginalisation of the LTTE’s conventional military power.

What will be the impact on Sri Lanka when the LTTE with its never ending quest for an elusive Tamil Eelam turns to guerrilla mode completely? In the last six months there have been fewer LTTE urban terrorist operations in Sri Lanka.

Over four tonnes of C4 explosives are reported to have been recovered in Colombo and its suburbs during 2008.

If this report is correct, it represents the sizeable failure of LTTE’s effort to enlarge its terrorist activities in the metropolis. Of course, the LTTE’s failing fortunes of war might be the immediate reason for this.

This is also due to Sri Lanka’s tightened internal security measures despite police high handedness and greater public awareness of the nature of terrorist threat.

Frequently the public have informed the police on finding suspected explosive devices.

This shows that they are not prepared to accept terrorist activity in their midst, regardless of their political inclinations.

The year 2008 would go down as the one in which the LTTE lost the largest chunk of territory held under control, despite suffering a very high casualties. But given the LTTE’s limitations of force level and fire power, it appears to have gone with the plan to defend Kilinochchi-Elephant Pass area with all its strength rather than stretching itself on a wide front.

So in the trade off of territory for delaying the offensive on all fronts, the LTTE was making the best out of an operational situation where they are outnumbered, outgunned and probably strategically outwitted.

The high casualty among the partially trained LTTE “freshers” in the delaying actions was inevitable in the LTTE scheme of things.

That might not be the way the kith and kin of the dead would look at the LTTE tactics because at the end of the day they have gained nothing except death and destruction and the privations of war.

International Herald Tribune

Lankan troops in hot pursuit of Tigers

Spurred by the capture of the LTTE’s de facto capital Kilinochchi, Sri Lankan troops on Saturday went into a hot pursuit of Tamil Tigers launching a ground and air assault on their last bastion, Mullaitivu, on the east coast. Mullaitivu is stated to be the military headquarters of the LTTE and where Sri Lankan military brass suspects that the LTTE leadership, including its supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, may be hiding.

“The battle for Mullaittivu has already begun,” Sri Lankan army chief Sarath Fonseka said, indicating that his forces were closing on the coastal town, which is also the headquarters of sea tigers.

“Simultaneously, the army has launched another strong pincer to seize the strategic Elephant Pass, which would give Sri Lankans a surface link to the Tamil dominated Jaffna province. “Sri Lankan fighters heavily bombed the retreating Tiger rebels all the way to Mullaittivu,” Air Force spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said. He said MI-24 helicopter gunships were providing close air support to the troops advancing to capture the Elephant Pass.

Troops are just two kms away from the Elephant Pass, Fonseka said, indicating that the fall of the Tiger bastion was imminent. “Troops of Army Task Force 1 are marching into the strategically vital Elephant Pass town,” according to defence sources.
 

 Xinhua

Sri Lankans jubilant over fall of Tamil Tigers’ hq

Sri Lankans jubilant over the government troops’ victory took to streets to celebrate the fall of the former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) headquarters.

People were seen lighting crackers and parading in streets with the Sri Lankan national flags in the capital Colombo and else where in the island. Some of the busy road intersections traffic were held up as celebrators lit crackers on highway.

Celebrations began minutes after Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa hailed his troops’ capturing of Kilinochchi at a victory ceremony held in his office. The government troops wrested from rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) control the town of Kilinochchi, their former administrative headquarters, on Friday.

“This was an unparalleled victory”, Rajapaksa told a gathering in his secretariat at a hurriedly arranged victory ceremony. “This was a campaign to defeat terrorism for which all communities have to be proud of”, Rajapaksa said.

The government troops entered the town of Kilin-ochchi from three directions Friday morning and took control of all major locations.

The Times of India

Hand over Prabha to India, Congress tells Lanka

Congress on Saturday demanded that Sri Lanka extradite LTTE chief Prabhakaran, an accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, if he is nabbed in the army offensive, in what signals a strong stand ruling out any intervention under pressure from DMK.

Congress spokesman Veerappa Moily told reporters that the LTTE was a banned outfit and Prabhakaran was wanted for the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

“He is an assassin and we would be very happy if he was extradited to India. We want him to be prosecuted and convicted here for the grave crime he committed,” Moily said.

The Hindu

Troops close in on Elephant Pass

The Sri Lankan military on Saturday claimed that the fall of the strategically important Elephant Pass town, situated at the entrance of the Jaffna peninsula, was imminent.

A statement from the Defence Ministry said troops of the Army Task Force 1 (TF 1) were marching into the town. Hours after the capture on Friday of Kilinochchi — administrative and political headquarters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam — Army chief Sarath Fonseka said the Elephant Pass was just two km beyond the TF 1 forward boundary.

The military has released photographs of several buildings in Kilinochchi, from where various LTTE wings functioned. The diplomatic community is familiar with the topography of the town as it was there that the rebels received foreign dignitaries.

The Ministry said troops advancing on multiple fronts towards the LTTE’s coastal garrison at Mullaithivu killed over two dozen rebels and injured an equal number.

Iran Daily

Lanka troops bomb Tigers

Sri Lankan jets and attack helicopters bombed Tamil Tiger positions in the north of the island on Saturday, the military said, a day after ground forces seized the rebels’ de facto capital Kilinochchi.

The military is now targeting the port town of Mullaitivu and other rebel strongholds in the north, as it seeks to deliver a knockout blow to end the island’s 25-year separatist war in which more than 70,000 people have been killed, Reuters reported.

There has been no direct comment from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on the fall of Kilinochchi, long the center of the rebels fight for an independent homeland for the Tamil minority.

“Fighter Jets raided a Sea Tiger base in Mullaitivu while the MI-24 helicopters attacked rebel positions in and around Mullaitivu in support of ground troops,“ Air Force spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said.

The Telegraph

Military gets ready to deliver knockout blow

Colombo, Jan. 3 (Reuters): Sri Lankan jets and attack helicopters bombed Tamil Tiger positions in the north of the island today, the military said, a day after ground forces seized the rebels’ de facto capital Kilinochchi.

The military is now targeting the port town of Mullaitivu and other rebel strongholds in the north, as it seeks to deliver a knockout blow to end the island’s 25-year separatist war in which more than 70,000 people have been killed.

There has been no direct comment from the LTTE on the fall of Kilinochchi, long the centre of the rebels fight for an independent homeland for the Tamil minority.

“Fighter Jets raided a Sea Tiger base in Mullaitivu while the MI-24 helicopters attacked rebel positions in and around Mullaitivu in support of ground troops,” Air Force spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said.

Troops fought their way into Kilinochchi, deep in the north, yesterday in one of the biggest blows for the rebels in years.

Details of casualties from the fighting have not yet emerged and a pro-rebel web site www.tamilnet.com said the Tigers had moved their headquarters further northeast before the town fell.

Nanayakkara said troops were carrying out search and recovery operations in Kilinochchi town today. Security has been tightened across the island following a suicide bombing that killed three air force personnel in Colombo shortly after President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced the fall of Kilinochchi.

Defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said the troops were 2km from Elephant Pass, a key rebel position in the neck of the northern Jaffna peninsula, and 6km from Mullaitivu town, and that troops would capture them soon.

Military officials say the rebels have in the past hit back with suicide bombings in the capital and elsewhere whenever they have come under pressure on the northern frontlines. “We will take all possible measures to avert any more terrorist attacks, they (LTTE) are desperate now with the biggest defeats in the northern war front so they will try more attacks,” said Nanayakkara.

The LTTE started fighting the government in 1983. It says it is battling for the rights of ethnic Tamils in the face of mistreatment by successive governments led by the Sinhalese majority since Sri Lanka won independence from Britain in 1948.

Exactly a year ago, Rajapaksa’s government formally scrapped an increasingly tattered six-year truce brokered by Norway, saying the rebels were using it as cover to regroup and re-arm.

In Washington, state department spokesman Gordon Duguid said the Tamil Tigers had been “one of the most notorious and brutal terrorist organisations over the past 20 years” but he urged the government to address Tamil concerns.

Kaleej Times

Sri Lanka presses on with fight against rebels

Sri Lankan forces launched air strikes and ground assaults on ethnic Tamil rebels after dealing their struggle for autonomy a devastating blow by capturing their de facto capital.

Ethnic Tamil politicians, warning the beleaguered rebels would simply turn to guerrilla warfare, appealed Saturday for an end to the fighting and for new talks to resolve the Indian Ocean island nation’s ethnic conflict.

In a major blow to the rebels’ battle for an independent state, the government captured their administrative capital of Kilinochchi on Friday. The rebels have come back from major defeats before to surprise government forces and retake territory, but many analysts said the unrelenting government offensive made such a comeback less likely this time.

On Saturday, troops turned their attention to two of the rebels’ remaining strongholds, Elephant Pass in the north and Mullaitivu in the northeast, defense spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said.

Air force jets and attack helicopters on Saturday pounded a base used by the rebels’ naval wing, Tamil Tiger fortifications along the front lines and a group of rebels confronting troops advancing toward Mullaitivu, the military said.

Deccan Herald

Forces raids Mullaittivu

Spurred by the capture of the LTTEs de facto capital Kilinochchi, Sri Lankan troops on Saturday went into a hot pursuit of Tamil Tigers launching a ground and air assault on their last bastion Mullaittivu on the east coast

Mullaittivu is stated to be the military headquarter of the LTTE and Sri Lankan military brass suspects that the LTTE leadership including its supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran may be hiding.

“The battle for Mullaittivu has already begun,” the Sri Lankan Army Chief Sarath Fonseka said indicating that his forces were closing on the coastal town, which is also the headquarter of sea tigers.

Simultaneously, the army has launched another strong pincer to seize the strategic Elephant Pass, which would give Sri Lankans a surface link to the Tamil dominated Jaffna province.

“Sri Lankan fighters heavily bombed the retreating Tiger rebels all the way to Mullaittivu,” Air Force spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said. Troops are just two kms away from the Elephant Pass, Fonseka said, indicating that the fall of the Tiger bastion was imminent.

LTTE suffered heavy damage in a confrontation with troops in Thanniyuttu area in Mullaittivu on Friday morning, the Media Centre for National Security said. Fighting was also reported with LTTE Kulamurippu during which both the rebels as well as the army suffered damages, the MCNS said.

The army chief Fonseka said troops of 57 Division entered the highly defended terrorists stronghold from the South.

The Observer,

Sri Lanka forces pound Tigers in battle for control

Government says it will end islands 25 year was this year and hopes to take rebel leader alive Sri Lankan forces were pushing deep into Tamil Tiger-held territory last night, announcing the targeting of new Tiger strongholds in the north in the hope of routing the rebel group and capturing its leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran.

A day after taking the town of Kilinochchi, the de facto capital of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Sri Lankan troops moved on the north-east coastal town of Mullaitivu, with air force jets bombing the main Sea Tiger base in Mullaitivu lagoon, according to defence officials in Colombo, and also on the strategically significant Elephant Pass, which fell to the LTTE in April 2000. The defence ministry said rebels were fleeing into the jungle in disarray.

Defence chiefs believe that a military victory in the long-running war may now be possible this year and they are understood to want to capture Prabhakaran alive. The LTTE leader is reported to be holed up in a bunker system in the forests around Mullaitivu.

Television pictures showed Sri Lankan army units pounding LTTE positions with heavy artillery and troops advancing through the jungle. Mi-24 helicopter gunships also carried out two bombing raids on LTTE positions in the north of the island, according to the Sri Lankan military.

Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, the man leading the campaign against the militants, said the Tigers were now confined to a small area about 25 miles long and 25 miles wide along the north eastern coastal district: “It won’t take a year to finish them off, to eliminate them,” he said.

Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse described the fall of the rebel capital as an “unparalleled victory” for the nation and warned the LTTE to abandon the fight. “I am telling the LTTE for the last time to lay down their arms and surrender.

” But Prabhakaran refuses to accept that the Tigers are on the run. He was reported to have said yesterday that capturing Kilinochchi was “just a day dream” of Rajapakse’s. Reports from Sri Lanka suggest Prabhakaran may be co-ordinating resistance to the offensive from an air-conditioned bunker complex 30ft below ground.

The Sri Lankan defence ministry said yesterday that ground forces, backed by helicopter gunships,were moving towards Mullaitivu. The government’s defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said the intention was to “liberate the whole northern province”.

Gulf News

Sri Lankan troops capture Tamil Tiger rebel headquarters

Sri Lankan helicopters bombed Tamil Tiger positions in the north of the island on Saturday, the military said, a day after troops captured the rebel headquarters town of Kilinochchi.

The military is now targeting the port town of Mullaitivu and other rebel strongholds in the north to bring an end to the 25-year separatist war.

There has been no comment from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Sri Lanka military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanyakkara said troops were carrying out search and recovery operations in Kilinochchi town on Saturday and were preparing for attacks.

We will take all possible measures to avert any more terrorist attacks, they (LTTE) are desperate now with the biggest defeats in northern war front so they will try more attacks,” said Nanyakkara. Sri Lankan troops captured the Tamil Tigers’ headquarters town on Friday in one of the biggest setbacks for the rebels in years.