Thursday, January 17, 2008

31 Dead in Buttala Attack

The attack at 2nd Milepost at Helagama, Buttala last morning has claimed 31 lives so far. The IED placed on a Hillock near 2nd Milepost was detonated by suspected LTTE cadres clad in black who then jumped on to the bus and started firing indiscriminately at women, children and men who were sttempting to escape the carnage left behind by the blast. Over a month ago, a gunman was observed threatening civilians at this location. Reports also indicated that a group of suspicious men were observed moving in the same area yesterday. Complaints made to the Buttala Police Station had been ignored. The attack came less than 12 hours before the official conclusion of the SLMM's monitoring mission.

A special team of Commandos has been deployed to search the area. It is believed that the attack was launched by the same LTTE team that attacked the Thalgasmankada Army detachment in neighboring Yala several months ago. An SLA Commando team which ambushed an LTTE team at Yala following the Thalgasmankada attack managed to kill and recover the remains of a female LTTE cadre. According to eyewitness accounts from the Buttala attack, a team of about 4 attackers had carried-out the attack, with possible spotters hiding in the thicket for reinforcement.

Meanwhile the government has decided to issue firearms to civilians in the area. The first batch of 500 arms will be provided shortly. Around 1000 Homeguards (Civil Defence Force) will also be recruited and trained in the coming weeks. Married victims with families will be compensated with Rs. 100,000 each. Unmarried victims will be compensated with Rs 50,000 each with child victims to be compensated with Rs. 25,000 each.

25 comments:

Jambudipa said...

I am not sure whether training yet more village guards are the answer here.

Firstly, the Police made a blunder when they were warned by the people in the area. This could have been prevented if the police acted earlier. There is no need for additional armed guards but get the bloody Police to do their job as they are supposed to.

This group was probably the one that was operating out of Yala. They have obviously moved north towards Monaragala. There may have camped near Tamil villages for supplies. Consideration should be given to deploying a group of mobile STF or village guards to hunt them down rather than training hundreds each time they attack a village.

Jambudipa said...

But who knows, they may have bribed the Police to stay away.

Srilankan said...

Panhinda..more guards are good..employmentwise and also if the police dont listen the additional homeguards may listen

chamal said...

Talking about the homeguards, what is the specially trained 'Nandimitra' group doing these days? Can't they be used in a situation like this, or are they deployed somewhere else?

onecountry said...

Hire a couple of veddah folks to track these terrorists in the jungle. They are experts in tracking.

Jambudipa said...

Sri Lankan,

The home guard seems the obvious choice. However, guns in the hands of poorly trained and jobless may lead to other problems like armed robberies in the future. We are not talking of a few but hundreds. My opinion is this should the last option when all others are exhausted. We should work smarter not harder.

Raptor said...

I agree with panhinda..it a stupid idea ot just go around handing out guns. Thats madness. Crime levels are going to skyrocket. People already armed need to do their job, the police neeeds to get their act together. We also need rapid raction teams ready to deploy in non conflict areas to take care of these incidents.

san said...

these snaps i got from eelavision.com
it says charles anthony regiment
anybody know what are the weapons they r using in these two photos
http://www.eelavision.com/gallery/5001-9185.jpg
http://www.eelavision.com/gallery/5001-9182.jpg
how many of these kind of weapons they got

LKDOOD said...

30 LTTE were killed in today's air attack

LINK

Srilankan said...

panhinda..this is our only option..I thought about the robberies also..but i am sure the govt has a plan in mind.

chamal said...

Even though the civilians are given weapons, it's unlikely that they will be allowed to use them as they like. The ammunitions each person has and on which occasions they are used will probably be recorded to ensure this.

CASC said...

The Govt should get Israeli expertise to set-up a civil defence force similar to what currently exists in Israel. This attack is part of the LTTE's stategy of diverting the Army's resources from its main mission.

Unknown said...

Alright, JVP is finally getting what they want.

Remember guys, JVP took up arms to take over the control of government at one time, and it was spoiled by the brave 'tamil' police men at that time.

Now slowly JVP gather its power, and recruited boys for their attack again in villages, and this time, the foolish government itself is giving GUN's to these so called "Home Guards" ... wait untill they turn against you.... its so shame, that the SL Police or the Amry is able to get the situation under control, and now they need 'home guyds' lol... so what is Poice? lol... good luck Sri Lanka, LTTE will come to rescue you... don't worry!

LKDOOD said...

250 LTTE rebels killed in 2 weeks

LINK

LTTE intelligence wing member & 7 seven Sri Lankan Tamils arrested in Chennai

LINK

Unknown said...

JVP Youth to take to the jungle in 2008?
by Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne

http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/495

lkdood, all you can wish is those fabricated numbers are so true... keep on dreaming..

CASC said...

There are a number of small arms that are defensive in nature (e.g. sem-automatic or single shot) or that use clibers that are obsolete or not in wide circulation. For example, the FAL variant that was used by the Indian army in the IPKF days, or the Lee Enfield (using a .308 caliber as in India) would be an ideal weapon for a civil defence force. Even if some of these types of weapons fall into the wrong hands it would not pose a great danger to society.

LKDOOD said...

Dialogue only way out in Sri Lanka: Ban Ki-moon

LINK

LKDOOD said...

ram

i'm not dreaming LOL !

its what the SL government has said

you don't have to believe if you don't want to believe it

LKDOOD said...

LTTE AA ?

LINK

LKDOOD said...

Three dead bodies and 03 injured from the attack on Kalawelgala village taken to Thanamalwila Hospital

LINK

TropicalStorm said...

JVP youth to take to the jungles?

Please ask them to do something useful and whack some tiger pussy.

mohan said...

you never know JVP youth may take arm training from LTTE, like they have got from Plote.

TropicalStorm said...

Kudos to lkdood on your blog.

Some of you others need to do your bit too.

Unknown said...

ram, all i can say is hahaha..you have no homeland. haahahha

Unknown said...

refugee boy.

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