Hundreds of soldiers started a fresh operation inside the Yala National Park, Sri Lanka's main wildlife sanctuary, after a bomb blast followed by the overnight raid on an army detachment, killing at least 06 soldiers. A tractor which was carrying the dead bodies of soldiers in last night's attack got caught in a land mine a short while ago, killing one soldier and injuring another 05, top military officials told DefenceWire. The Yala National Park, situated in the deep down south, was due to be opened today for public after annual closure of the park for reconstruction work.
The LTTE team which launched the attack came from Ampara and attacked the last detachment in Thalgasmankada, established years-ago to protect the sanctuary. "Minutes after we were alerted to the incident, all communication with the camp was cut off"an officer describe the attack told on condition of anonymity. Another camp which was also located nearby Thalgasmankada camp vacated soon after the incident on precautionary measure, he added.
Two more soldiers are missing in action and another is injured. The LTTE unit which launched the attack had come along the Menik Ganga, along what is considered an ancient pilgrimage route to Katharagama Kovil. Army reinforcements from Kondawattuwaan managed to retake the detachment by 10pm the same day.
The attack came during Special Task Force attempts to neutralize LTTE Leader Ram and his men. Military Intelligence had warned of increased efforts by this unit to destabilize the newly captured areas. DefenceWire also indicated a heightened activity by the group since the Claymore ambush of 6 STF personnel.
LTTE's tactics seems to be to thin-out the Military in the District and beyond and to refocus the thrust being planned for the Vanni back to the East. The attack also indicates careful planning on the part of the Tigers. It is unlikely that the attack was launched by cadres trapped in Thoppigala since this was no break-out attempt. It is unlikely for trapped fighters to draw unnecessary attention to them, unless they are on the offensive.
The attack will serve as a morale booster for LTTE and its sympathizers, particularly in the Diaspora. The overall military significance of the battle seems negligible, unless panicked politicians start erecting defensive fortifications thus committing large numbers of troops to bunker duties.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Massive Search Operation After Yala Bomb Blast- 3rd Lead
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11 comments:
DefenceWire:
Who is feeding them that these stranded cadres.
Why we don't use some Intel to find out that.
Why, do you think, they won't be any threat when they behave like Rogues.
If they keep on spying on small camps and small contingencies, they will be a nuisance.
Well done defence.lk
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20071016_01
This is how you should write to expose LTTE’s real picture to the World.
Following is the ending of above article.
"LTTE is a ruthless terror outfit which fights for an ethnically pure, separate Tamil homeland for Tamils living in Sri Lanka since 1983. The outfit is well known for its extreme tribalism and nefarious crimes against soft targets specially the women and children. During its two and half decade long terrorist war against Sri Lankan people, LTTE has killed over 70,000 people mostly civilians in its ethnic cleansing raids, indiscriminate bomb attacks, suicide blasts, etc. LTTE is also in top of the UN's list of shame for using child soldiers in war. As a tactical measure the outfit uses only young female cadres and male child soldiers for the frontlines."
I hope that I have not disturbed your valuable discussion.
Thanks
"As a tactical measure the outfit uses only young female cadres and male child soldiers for the frontlines." - Defence.lk
Defencewire, I quote from defence.lk, as per the above comment by 'True.' Can you substantiate this?
Defencewire your reporting is more accuate then defencenet
DefenceWire
Can't we get a few teams togther explicitly to hunt down this ltte group?
it's no easy task but these types of attacks will only increase if we counter their strategy
they're desperate for some good news before nov 27. the main thing is not to panic as the article says and continue attacking them on all fronts. wear them down, thin out their resources and occasionally put the fear of god into their leadership through dpu strikes. attack is the best defence when you've caught a tiger by the tail!
It is customary to Rasiah Ilanthirayan to make a statement since ltte was able to make a some sort of an attack on SLA. He seems to be missing since vishwamadu bombardment by SLAF. I suspect he is the main casualty of the SLAF attack, other than the so called "ltte scientist".
True,
I agree with you on that Defence.lk Article. It has been written much professionally than some of the third-class personally attacking articles that used to take the stage in the site.
Looks like there is at least one intelligent person writing for Defence.lk.
Guys,
This is just one battle. There are many such battles in a war.
Its not exactly clear who feeds them but my mind goes back to pre-Karuna desertion times when about 150 LTTE used to upset STF in Ampara, B'caloa. They managed to tie down Security Forces resources in the East, occasionally sending Jeyanthan Regiment to launch a significant attack. I am confident that this should, and will not be the case this time.
"Why, do you think, they won't be any threat when they behave like Rogues".
I think they are a threat, but nothing to commit an entire Army division to counter. The STF must step up to the challenge. They have the skills, resources and experience to do it and I'm sure they will. Their hand will be further strengthened once a certain paramilitary group returns and starts assisting them. There are other things under way also. But total eradication of small units is next to impossible without committing large numbers of troops and at this stage we cannot afford that. LTTE can move in small teams and supplies discretely into the East and will continue to do so for attacks behind the SF's back. They are trying desperately to put the pressure back on the SF and to get their own selves back on the offensive.
DW,
I think you are right about LTTE's desire to get into the offensive mode again.
A terrorist organization is motivated always by a political ideology. It furthers this ideology through scathing attacks that affect the psychology and morale of the opposite number.
A close comparison between the location of this attack and LTTE's Ealam Map demonstrates the incident occurred in the southern-most tip of the Ealm map. It is also the geographic beginning of the 'deep south' and incidentally President Rajapakse's base.
Who is the audience of this attack? First it the government and the sinhala people, and then its the Diaspora and thirdly the pro-LTTE groups in SL. So the attack, much similar to the Tamil Ealam Air Force's air-raid has more psychological significance than actual military significance. The reactions to the attack by some sections confirms its psychological impact. For you DW, its a military analysis and experience tells you that it has little military significance in the 'war'. But for the Tamil Diaspora it signals that the organization wasn't defeated in the East and that there is still 'hope'. It also signals to the Sinhala polity that the myth regarding the complete security forces domination of the East could be a myth that can be challenged. This can exert political pressure on the government to, in turn, put pressure on the military to rectify the damage. This could result in an 'over correction' as you have pointed out causing kore harm than good, thus fulfilling the LTTE agenda.
This definetly isn't going to be an isolated incident. I doubt the LTTE has the capability to launch any major attacks, but they will keep up the guerrilla warfare to wear down the troops to an extent the proposed development in the east is brought to a standstill, and they can slowly start dominating certain areas again.
And don't forget the significance that the attack was launched on the day Yala was due to be opened to the public. More attacks like this and we're going to have tourists and foreign governments starting to panic again.
August arrivals were down just 15%, compared to a drop of 40% in May, so tourism was picking up. The economy appears to be going steady too, and that's exactly what the LTTE wants to prevent.
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