Prabhakaran cornered Last battle has begun

The battle to capture the final township under Tiger control is now on with Security Forces advancing into the Puthukuduyiruppu town area with all Tiger leaders making desperate attempts using their maximum resources and man power to stop the troops advance into Puthukuduyiruppu and Iranapalai areas.

In other words the troops have reached the doorstep of Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran’s hideout by this time as his second in command and the Intelligence Wing Chief Pottu Amman who had never heard commanding the Tiger cadres in the battle front had come to the front to command Tiger cadres in the front lines.

The 58 Division troops commanded by Brigadier Shavendra Silva have heard the voice of Pottu Amman over communication sets commanding the Tiger cadres on Wednesday evening as fierce battles raged in the area with troops inching towards the city centre amid heavy resistance of the LTTE.

Tiger leadership

It was a strong indication that the top level Tiger leadership is under immense pressure as they have been surrounded by the troops from all fronts by this time. Therefore it is inevitable that the Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran himself has to appear in the battlefront to command his top level leaders after deploying them into the front lines to safeguard his hideout.

Although the Tiger leadership never thought of such a plan few months back, the current circumstances had compelled the Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran to decide on entering the battlefront and fight with the Security Forces leaving his underground hideout.

Otherwise he should decide whether he should bite the cyanide capsule hanging around his neck (if he has one like other Tiger cadres) and allow the remaining cadres to surrender to the Security Forces unconditionally or to stick on with his futile efforts for another few hundred hours and face his destiny at the hands of the Security Forces.

But there is no indication from the LTTE that they are going to give up arms and surrender to the Security Forces heeding international pressures on them. According to information they are agreeable only to a Ceasefire to facilitate the free movement of civilians trapped there.

The Government is not willing to offer any Ceasefire at this stage, as it was aware of the fact that the LTTE would come out with their terror plans taking advantage of any Ceasefire at this stage. Successive Governments in this country have experienced the consequences of entering into Ceasefires with the LTTE as the Tiger outfit had the practice of making use of those Ceasefires and any relaxation of fighting to regroup themselves and intensify their fight against the Security Forces.

Huge pressure

Although there a huge pressure on the Government from international actors to agree on a Ceasefire at this stage on humanitarian grounds, it has not given in since the Government itself has to face repercussions if it agrees to such demands. The Government has repeatedly rejected such requests for a Ceasefire with the LTTE taking a firm stand sticking to one voice at all whether local or international. This stand will remain until LTTE terrorism is wiped out from the country or until the LTTE decides to disarm and surrender to the Security Forces.

Therefore, the Security Forces have to plan their strategy to defeat the LTTE in their last township Puthukuduyirippu once again safeguarding the lives of nearly 76,000 people trapped there in the No fire zone in the North of Mullaitivu.

It is learnt that the LTTE is not allowing the civilians to move into the southern part of the No Fire Zone as the LTTE high security zone is largely situated in the Southern part of the No Fire Zone.

The 58 Division under the command of Brigadier Shavendra Silva has entered Puthukuduyiruppu town area on Tuesday amid heavy resistance from the LTTE.

It was amid fierce fighting the LTTE Intelligence Wing leader Pottu Amman has ordered his cadres to send teams equipped with heavy machine guns to prevent the 58 Division troops entering the centre of Puthukuduyiruppu town and recapture the areas taken by the troops.

But troops of the 58 Division gave no chance for the LTTE to recapture a single area captured by them fighting intense battles with the LTTE.

Final battle

The 58 Division has entered the final battle with the LTTE, having commenced their operations from the Mannar area in September 2007 and having completed the longest march by any of the offensive battle formations.

Therefore, it has the experience and capability to defeat the LTTE at its final battle in Puthukuduyiruppu and Iranapalai areas to see an end to the battle against the LTTE very soon.

The LTTE is facing a grave situation as their most sensitive high security zones where Tiger leader Prabhakaran and Intelligence leader Pottu Amman were in hiding had come under the threat of the Security Forces.

The 58 Division troops making a North to South move had come across a fairly big Tiger camp consisting of more than seven well constructed buildings where the LTTE had produced suicide jackets, claymore mines, and anti-aircraft gun barrels. The camp has been camouflaged to make it invisible to the air after covering the area with a camouflage net.

The 7 Sinha Regiment troops have captured this camp complex after fierce fighting with the LTTE.

Troops also have recovered maps of Bandarawela, Panagoda, Jaela and other important towns inside the Tiger camp complex. It is believed that the LTTE had briefed their suicide cadres about their missions with the help of these maps.

Military equipment

Apart from this the 58 Division troops also have recovered Naval gun boats and vessels as well as a large haul of weapons and other military equipment from Puthukuduyiruppu East.

Sophisticated swimming pools which would have been used by senior leaders or by foreigners who have been supporting the LTTE have also been found by the troops. It gives the impression how the Tiger leaders were spending a luxurious life at the expense of the innocent Tamil civilians and the Tamil Diaspora across the globe who were suffering due to the shortsighted acts of the LTTE.

In Ampalavanpokkanai area the 58 Division troops have also found a very recently constructed cemetery where LTTE had buried more than 400 bodies of Tiger cadres commencing from January this year. The last body has been buried in that cemetery on February 04, 2009.

As 58 Division making these moves from the North of A-35 road into the centre of the Puthukuduyiruppu town from the West to East direction and North to South direction the Task Force VIII under the command of Colonel G.V. Ravipriya and the 53 Division under the command of Brigadier Kamal Gunaratne are advancing into the Puthukuduyiruppu city centre in a South to North direction.

Therefore, the LTTE has been miserably entrapped in few square kilo metres stretch in Puthukuduyiruppu town which is spread in more than 16 square Kilo metres.

Desperate attempts

As the Security Forces are exerting huge pressure on the LTTE in their bid to capture the last township under their control, the LTTE is also making desperate attempts to exert huge pressure on the Security Forces and the political leadership.

The LTTE’s failed attempt to launch an air attack on Air Force Headquarters and Katunayake Air Force Base was a clear indication of their desperation. But this time too the LTTE miserably failed achieving their target though they came on a suicide mission with more than 240 Kgs of C4 explosives in each aircraft.

The Sri Lanka Air Force saw the results of their two and half years long efforts of establishing the air defence system of the country to face any type of air threat commencing from the latter part of the year 2006. They have proven beyond any doubt that they were capable of facing any air threat as they could destroy both aircraft which were on suicide missions.

Desperate attempt

The Sri Lanka Air Force reacted to this desperate attempt to create mayhem in Colombo, very systematically, without creating any panic situation in Colombo after they were informed about the move by the troops operating in Puthukuduyiruppu area

Although interceptors were airborne from Katunayake soon after they got the information about the two aircraft heading towards Colombo from Puthukuduyiruppu after reaching to the Western coast via Puliyankulam, they could not lock the target as it was flying very low.

According to Air Force both aircraft had arrived in Colombo without much resistance as the SLAF had taken precautionary steps to avoid a panic situation close to Katunayake international airport as international aircraft were also in the air at the time the Tiger aircraft were passing Katunayake air space.

By the time they were reaching Katunayake air defence system had been activated and once reaching Colombo all the anti aircraft guns were directed towards the Tiger aircraft since it was quite risky to destroy the aircraft using interceptors.

Amid this firing one aircraft managed to reach the Beira Lake close to Air Force headquarters after entering inland from the harbour mouth.

Whilst it was heading towards the Air Force headquarters it was hit by an anti aircraft gun installed on a high rise building along D.R. Wijewardena Mawatha, Colombo.

Minutes after it was hit by Air Force guns, the aircraft crashed into the Inland Revenue Department building and disappeared from the radar screen.

Search lights

The second aircraft had then reached towards Katunayake area and tried to target the hangars of the Jet squadron there at the Katunayake Air Force Base. There was swift reaction by the Air Force after they detected the aircraft over the skies of Katunayake Air Force base.

Two search lights directed at the aircraft were crossed over the aircraft flying close to Air Force Base enabling the Air Force gunners to direct their guns at the aircraft. Air Force personnel have observed the way the aircraft was crashing into the land outside the Air Force Base.

It has been revealed that the aircraft crashed after the pilot has been hit by tracer bullets directed at the aircraft. The pilot having hit by the bullets had failed to explode the explosives in the aircraft and crashed into the ground.

The entire episode ended by 10pm on February 20 night with Sri Lanka Air Force successfully destroying the two aircraft preventing them from achieving their targets.

However, the Security Forces have been puzzled with the way two aircraft had reached Colombo and went through high rise buildings of Colombo during dark hours as they could not find any night vision equipment with the Tiger pilots.

Therefore, it is strongly suspected that aircraft has been guided by someone from the ground to reach their targets. Therefore, investigations are now on to ascertain whether they have been given any ground support to guide the aircraft in Colombo.

Failed mission

It was after this failed mission the LTTE once again resorted to their brutal acts practiced during 1980’s by launching a brutal attack against Sinhalese civilians living in Karametiya village in Inginiyagala, Ampara.

More than 21 civilians were callously shot down and hacked to death by LTTE cadres. It once again showed the desperation of the LTTE as they are going to face certain defeat at the hands of the Security Forces within the next few days.

As the LTTE is engaged in these desperate acts to avoid or delay the certain defeat looming around them the Security Forces are going to enjoy the benefits of their victories very soon as the Army is making arrangements to facilitate their troop movements from Jaffna to Anuradhapura through A-9 road.

This will be a historic moment for the Security Forces as this is the first time almost after 20 years that troops are going to use the A-9 road for troop movement missions. The SLA transported its first consignment of goods to Jaffna via A-9 road on Wednesday.

After opening the A-9 road for troop movement the road will also be opened for civilians in Jaffna to reach the south easily. In the same manner the entire nation will see the benefits of liberating this country from the clutches of LTTE terrorism very soon once the gallant troops complete the final battle in Puthukuduyiruppu very soon.