The Sri Lanka Army lost 20 men and over 100 others were injured while attempting to breach the LTTE Forward Defence Line at Kilali. 15 LTTE have also been killed. The thrust made by the 55th Division came from Kilali and Muhamalai SLA FDLs. It was unfortunately boxed-in and attacked by the LTTE, which, according to Field Commanders looked like a well rehearsed and prepared strategy following information leaks of an impending advance from that sector. However, contrary to Pro-LTTE media this was not a major military operation and was a limited operation to neutralize the offensive formations of the LTTE along the lagoon. Not a single man was left behind by troops whose objective was never to hold the ground in either case. No Main Battle Tanks were also lost in the attack contrary to the reports of some media. Some infantry weapons left behind by troops have been seized by the LTTE and pictures strewn all over the Internet as part of its propaganda campaign. The heavy air traffic experienced above Jaffna skies is also customary when a battle is going.
Some Field Commanders speaking to DefenceWire expressed amazement at the amount of visible preparations made for the assault during the last few weeks. This and other planning shortcomings have been well studied by the LTTE in this sector as evidenced by Muhamalai I where over 300 soldiers were killed and eight Battle-tanks destroyed. Prior to both these assaults, small LTTE recce teams were observed moving in and out of the area measuring troop strength in Kilali and Muhamalai (This was noted by DefenceWire in the last post). The area, lying adjacent to the lagoon, provides ample opportunities for infiltration and reconnaissance.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Truth About Muhamalai II
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26 comments:
defencenet is reporting that over 65 LTTE were killed in action, could the LTTE be covering up the actual number of dead cadres?
Actual LTTE casualties are as low as 15, but not as low as Tamilnet's, which is 1 KIA. Admittedly SLA got outmaneuvered and outsmarted.
Defencewire...did the airforce help in the operation?.were most of the casualties due to direct fire or booby traps and mines..?
Defencewire,
Even last time the field commanders were not very happy and confident before the op. But they just had to obey the orders. Unfortunately still the commanders do not listen or respect the opinions of the lower rank. There are excellent, experienced young chaps who knows by gut feeling wheather an op is going to be a success or not.
Our forces should be verycarefull, be patient and use the head not the muscles.
DW,
Now I dont understand. De we broke out of our defences first or was it in retalliation to an Ltte oofensive?
If we did I think it is pretty stupid. This is not like politics to score points and put our boys in danger.[unneccessarily]
What happened here looks like we will loose more than 20 dead(given the large no of injured) and we gave LTTE a lot of small arms..to use against us in the future.We had 120 dead and injured within just 1.5 hours.Who actually authorises these attacks?
From http://lankadissent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2182&Itemid=1
Defence sources say that the offensive was conducted to take over the Muhamalai FDL and declare yet another military victory today.
Reports further say that the military is back to square one, following heavy LTTE attacks and suffering heavy casualties.
In the recent past, a military victory was declared to the whole country whenever the President made an important speech. His announcement of the military victory in Silavathura during the speech at the 56th convention of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party on September 03rd is such an example.
We are slipping into the old concoction of war for politics.
srilankan,
AF heli-gunships fired at a few locations. Casualties were due to direct and indirect fire.
mottapala,
we broke out of our defences and launched the attack first. They were lying in wait.
I posed this question to DefenceNet as well. DefenceNet puts the LTTE casualty count at 65 + unknown number wounded. You on the other hand places it at 15. As I said DefenceNet, I understand that you guys have different sources but why is the two figures that far apart?
Also what do you mean by, "We are slipping into the old concoction of war for politics."?
Ares
Thanks DefenceWire.. i pray that you are wrong about "war for politics"..we are not going to have a country this rate.
ares,
I cannot comment on DefenceNet, which we consider a brother site.
We can confirm our figures. SLA was boxed-in by an LTTE already prepared for an advance from Muhamalai. Govt websites claimed 52 LTTE KIA in 1.5 hours of fighting when only 11 SLA killed. But 41 WIA. Other independent and reliable sources indicated 22-23 SLA KIA and 120 WIA. There is an imbalance in these accounts.
If 52 or 65 LTTE KIA in 1.5 hours, why stop the assault and return to original FDL?
No Field Commander would do that not so early and now when its so successful and certainly not before achieving the objective of holding the LTTE FDL for the good part of a day or more and consolidation and clearing operations subsequent to that. This would enable the troops to recover LTTE bodies and weapons and bring them back, destroy bunkerline, infiltrate more and map-out the terrain and enemy fortifications/strength etc.
concoction of war and politics meant we are again running the war for a political agenda.
"concoction of war and politics meant we are again running the war for a political agenda."
So sad. The reason why we can never win this war. Never learn.
Ref: Muhamalai Vidutahalthivu and Pooneryn. Is it possible that the military is launching (or pretending to launch)multiple thrusts to prevent LTTE reserves being moved (FM Montgomery approach)? If so, then it makes sense ....
well, some one reliable from palali gave me some casualty figures which was very simillar to DN, 20 odd brave boys KIA confirmed,but tiger casualties are very much higher
We need MLRS units with steel rain ability.
Its simple, pull the troops back when they get boxed in, saturate the LTTE FDL with steel rain(handful of volleys should do it) and then send in the army again to wipe out the remaining LTTE(if there are any) cadres.
tikira,
Even if the SLA killed 65 LTTE in 1.5 hours losing 22-23 soldiers, and 120 WIA, something has still gone wrong.
Defencewire,
It is high time we should make our politicians aware of the consequences of small scale politically motivated military operations. While it is up to the politicians to set the big picture, they shall never get in to details. They should leave it to the pros, i.e. our forces.
Defencewire, who is CO for 55 Division; Major General G.A. Chandrasiri? 55 division is taking some big hits.
DW,mate,no doubt about that,some thing very bad happened, i concider our guys were bare lucky to avoid a debacle simmilar to one in last october,too bad for 55 div when they about to perform they lose confidence,with greatest respect for the brave lads a salute of honour,losing even one is losing one of our own, a brave one, a chosen one.by the way i wasnt trying to prove anything,but,was sharing the info i received with you guys.
DW,pls refrain from telling names, our friends use simmilar blogs to fish, you know the game dont ya ,just a reminder
sldf,
Chandrasiri is Security Forces Commander Jaffna. 55Div is under him but separate. It is situated further south. Incidentally, newly appointed A'pura defence chief was onetime commander of 55Div and established some good infrastructure, including a new hospital. It is virtually unbreachable.
tikira,
We know the game.
dfencewireyou say only 15 were killed on the ltte's part.but realiable sources from jaffna tells another story
can please cnfrm that its only 15 killed on the ltte's part.
chameera,
The casualties on LTTE side is less than 20.
There's got to be a fresh strategy to attack Muhamalai since none of the existing tried out ones have worked. I aint no expert on the subject but it's human nature to feel "safe" with old school thinking.
Tigers always seem to have the element of surprise... why can't our guys give them a nasty surprise in return... Haven't we learned anything from past experiences in this sector...
Is there any diversion tactics we can use?
SLDF can do it...we have the right people...the equipment and the courage... if we get our thinking right i don't think future muhamalai ops should also end up the way the past ops have ended...us getting beaten back by a more prepared and rather "creative" enemy
Guys, unfortunately our topbrass are still going by Sandhurst techniques. They are not at all innovative. And military is crippled by internal politics. We had very few guys who were capable of doing wonders. But they left.The good ones are still leaving.
There need to be big change.
Defencewire, UNP is telling that 65 of our soldiers died and 60 missing as well as 200 injured in the Muhamalai attact? is that true? what is going on?
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