Operating independently as the Commander's Reserve, the elite units of the Sri Lanka Army have added fresh impetus to the fighting in the North as of late. On the 11th and 12th of this month (Friday and Saturday), The Sri Lanka Army's Special Forces successfully ambushed an LTTE Tractor and Double-cab respectively in the general area west of Weli Oya.
The double-cab was part of an LTTE leader's security detail, but the leader was missing during the attack. The tractor, however, was full of reinforcements and vital ordnance for LTTE units in the Nayaru sector.
Last Thursday and yesterday, three 4-man teams of elite Commandos (2CR) crept into areas south of Veduthalthivu and launched a daring, face to face combat operation killing over two dozen experienced LTTE cadres from the Charles Anthony and Imran Pandian Regiments.
The battle that lasted the better half of that day culminated with the induction by the LTTE of 200 of its own 'elite' units to which 2 Commando Regiment also responded by adding another three 4-man teams. Four Commandos laid down their lives in this operation.
Yesterday, an 8-man team of Commandos crept into an LTTE bunker-line east of Veduthalthivu and launched another devastating attack on Tigers. Commandos brought back 5 bodies of Tigers from the scene.
Commando operations in the Mannar sector is being conducted under the direct supervision of Brigadier Shavendra Silva who is the Brigade Commander of the Unit.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Elite units kick in
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34 comments:
This is the stuff that liberators are made of!
Hail the SLDF and Commandos.
May you have all the strength to deliver all Sri Lankans long yearned peace!
May you have all the best of luck in your endeavours!
We are with you all the way
Why on earth do they bother bringing the bodies back?
They have to inflitrate enemy lines, laden with arms and ammunition and then bring back their kills as well in the thick bush?
why?
Wouldn't it better to do what the Brits did in Malaya? Decapitate the kills so there is less to carry?
Thanks for the posting DW.
These teams should be provided with small Digital Cameras, so that they can bring the pictures as proof and not the bodies of the enemy.
Bringing back bodies is another burden to the forces.
On the other hand, what I heard was none of the Special Forces guys wear body armour. That helps towards much needed agility, however as I heard much of the SF deaths could have been prevented if they had some sort of protection.
When storming bunkers, their torso is well exposed, and much of the injuries are being on the upper body area.
If requested, Harsha International should be able to create a unique body armour suitable for SF operations. I have a body hugging design in mind too. They should be similar to protection you wear when you play Cricket or Ice Hockey.
This is for the attention of our Armed Forces higher-ups.
["Elite units kick in"
]
Any attempt to reach a compromise with the LTTE terrorists at this stage would not only be a blunder but also outright treachery.
Only two exits needs to be left open.
Either unconditional laying down of arms and negotiate with SLDF & GOSL
or
die for the Eelam.
//Why on earth do they bother bringing the bodies back?//
Mostly due to SL and Int. media, opposition parties blame on SLA on giving inflated numbers of dead caders. Thus whenever possible they carry dead bodies of LTTE caders. This is what I heard.
mmmmmmmmmm I thought they havnt reached Madu yet.
Any whoooooooooo,
Long live thalivar(or is it Thazhivar)
Long last Thamizh Ezham
Top two lines dedicated to one and only Kotte munji KUTTU
hehehe
With only 3 months away from the rainy season in Wanni, SLDF may finish this operation in low point as they haven't captured any vital LTTE supply lines except they flirted around their FWL.
If LTTE can sustain this defensive war for another 4 months, they will be on the driving seat for rest of the course as you will see another failed politician in MR who will be responsible for huge loss of human lives. We will back to square one again.
Signs are everywhere that the HARVESTING STRATEGY is kicking in.
no rainy season can save the tigers IF we kill an adequate number of them. they will run out of cadres.
i read sharmindra's article in the island. but i don't agree that the fall of vedathalathivu will lead to the fall of ST bases from there to poonaryn. this is a VERY LONG stretch and it is untreaded territory for the SLDFs. they will have to fight for every kilometer of it as now. SLA should not advance on a thin line alone the coast. they should continue with the present COAST TO COAST FDL.
We are with you all the way.
Best of luck to the unsung heroes.
DW,
Thank you very much for the articles.
moshe and noltte,
Great inputs. Hope the relevent peopel take note of these ideas/suggestions..
DW,
Thank you very much for the articles.
moshe and noltte,
Great inputs. Hope the relevent peopel take note of these ideas/suggestions..
DefenceNet
Explain this to me please.
Why do we need to collect bodies of dead nattamis?
If proof is needed, can't they simply take pictures of the bodies or at most simply take the heads as proof?
Is there any international treaty which forbids dismemberment of body parts?
bhairav
You fail to read the writing on the wall.
The war is over. Whether we fight another 20yrs and allow attrition to wear away any future resistance forever or we come to a democratic consensus now with everyone, is not really important.
Either way, we've already got what we want. SL will always remain one, indivisible.
You will, as an old man look back and sigh in defeat, just like anton Bala and all others.
SLSF have already been through three wet seasons, two in the current area of operations. They never stopped then, they probably will never stop in future. This is the difference between the old Army and the new.
Taking enemy bodies is an important military statement in the battlefield. Most armies and even guerrillas have been given strict instructions to recover and retrieve the dead. The current rate of recovery of Tiger bodies indicates the severity and surprise element of an attack. It is customary to leave behind the structures, rations even weapons. But leaving behind bodies indicates a complete disarray. Recovering the bodies and bringing them back to the unit has a psychological impact on the unit's men, even civilians in the area. I remember during Ceaseless-waves when the Army's regular units pulled back, SF units went in, killed and brought back LTTE bodies. When other units saw this, the entire mindset changed. Civilians, getting ready to flee, decided to wait and see. Plus, losing bodies of your men and inability to collect them can be very depressing to a fighting force, whether conventional or unconventional. The leadership of that unit may become challenged. There is the thought that the next body to be abandoned could be you! This affects the ability of the men to face an enemy. There are these various elements that are not immediately visible from a distance.
"SLA should not advance on a thin line alone the coast. they should continue with the present COAST TO COAST FDL."
At the moment none of the above represents the real situation. On the western side of the A9 forces are moving like a wide arrowhead, mainly 57 leading the penetration.
"SLSF have already been through three wet seasons, two in the current area of operations. They never stopped then, they probably will never stop in future. This is the difference between the old Army and the new."
Well said, Defencewire.
hemantha,
exactly. that's what i said.
we should never change this JUST to capture vedathalithivu to poonaryn caostline to stop tiger weapons transport, etc.
our COAST TO COAST FDL based (EAST TO WEST) strategy should continue.
noltte=peace
I agree our elite need to wear body armor. I have heard that our SF soldiers wear flak vests, not sure if this is true or not. Maybe defencewire can tell us if they wear armor or not.
BTW defencewire,
How has the military improved its capability to conduct war in the wet season? And why was it not done years earlier?
thanks for the update DW
It is good that if they have access to Flak Vests!
The other point, LTTE Elite forces have high concentration of GPMG/LMG and RPGs than our regular infantry have. In early days, much of the close battle related casualties have attributed to LTTE GPMG/LMG and RPG ratio. This needs to be looked into in the current context. Certainly the methods have changed since it was three years ago. However, we may have to think of increasing GPMG/LMG RPG ratios in normal infantry under an impending LTTE 'counter attack' scenario.
[How has the military improved its capability to conduct war in the wet season?]
They all suck out the water(juicy) stuff from canals :)
Bhairav,
What happened to your two sisters?? Are they still under Training??
thanks DW for the update.
1.
commandos have been taking on LTTE "elites" who are always a protected spiecies in the LTTE. i can imagine their fear when their collegues go "missing" in action!!
the 25 we recovered would have had a MASSIVE impact on the rest.
remember the April 25 incident this year? IMMEDIATELY following that tigers transported recovered SLA bodies ALL THE WAY to killinochchi!!!!
its a dose of their own medicine.
2.
on another point, i personaly don't think we should send our commandos to face a situ where they have to defend themselves against a large LTTE group. concentration should be on an "OFFENSE & RETREAT" tactic (not quite hit & run!!) that REDUCES the need for self-defence.
3.
on rainy season....
DW, appreciate your comments. but are we really capable of sustaining a strong OFFENSE in rainy seasons? the last time we couldn't. our effectiveness reduced and was explained in DW as well. for tigers who are SO DESPERATE that reduction will be like heaven. also we are approaching DEEP THEIR territory BEST KNOWN to tigers where SLA haven't stepped in FOR A VERY LONG TIME.
i know SLDFs have nicely evolved into a much FEROCIOUS fighting force for the past 3 years and i know they can overcome this challenge as well. only thing, i don't know how.
I agree with DW with the effect made to the troops by bringing back fallen Enemies.
Its a good thing to do when No threats to be seen & Time is not the problem...
But when the terrain & the enemies in the hiding are a threat,Taking photos witha Digi cam willbe more eazy for a Surprise Attack & Return...
Why Risk the Lives of the Best, when just a photo with their tags would do...
Our Army is not Barbaric as the ltte..
So I dont agree with decapitating...
:(
DW-
I do also agreed with what SU said. Why do we get our best trained troops to carry those unwanted LTTE bodies. Why do n't we just take pictures with out wasting well needed energy.
LTTE ideology relies very much on giving the body an extravangant burial.
It is totally alien to our tamil culture where we give importance to the aatma not body.
Anyways it would be better just to bring back one body and set fire to the rest, or booby trap them so as to really demoralise the LTTE.
DW, Guys,
How far did they carry these bodies?
200 (plus the people who were already there) as reinforcements against just 24 men....
Quite unlike the recent 'commando raids' of the LTTE against isolated navy outposts which relied on overwhelming firepower and manpower, this raid has clearly been carried out with the aid of the commandos' superior skill and training and also good planning.
The difference between SLA elite units and LTTE elite units is apparent from this. If this is the kill ratio when SLA is fighting against LTTE 'elites', we can imagine how much the LTTE regulars will suffer in a battle like this. Also quite different from the ambushes and stealth attacks that we are used to hear about.
Anyway with this new development, doesn't it mean that LTTE leadership will be worried about the security of their camps? They'll feel the need to secure them with more personnel, but where to get them is the problem. Moving people out of the FDL's and assigning them to camps will mean that the FDL's are weakened and will be even more vulnerable to attack. The other option is to move in more people from the Wanni and assign them to the camps, which means that the heart of the LTTE territory will be unsecured and LRRP teams will have more freedom in there. This is considering that a very large no. of cadres will be needed for securing the camps. If they don't secure the camps these type of raids are likely to continue. If they secure the camps properly, that means some other area becomes more vulnerable to attack. What can they do? Any thoughts?
29 LTTE cadres, 4 soldiers killed in Lanka clashes: Officials
LINK
schools to be closed
http://www.lankaenews.com/Sinhala/news.php?id=5885
War is only job available in Sri Lankan village
LINK
Chamal
the only option seems to be tactical withdrawal - as they've been doing in mannar and Vavuniya, till they all get bottled up in Killinochchi
Moshe, Tangara any thoughts from you gentlemen
I am sure qrious will have a very interesting input
Although its called the rainy season, it doesn't rain all the time. Besides, the Mannar mud-hole is now pretty much conquered. The units that engaged in the operation did not cease, like the would normally, thus not allowing tigers to regroup. They went in small groups, taking turns and constantly harassed the Tigers. So, on occasion, out of around 40,000 troops, 1000-2000 would be deployed in direct offensive duties, thus reducing fatigue. Some perished when, on one occasion for example, they slipped and fell into a mud-pit dug just outside the LTTE defences. But the troops learnt their lesson and avoided it a second time. The nature of the beast demands this course of action. Let the next rainy season come, there will be 20,000 more troops in the same sector to reckon with, meaning 4-5000 creeping in, attacking and disappearing 24/7. Unlike in the past, these troops will be dedicated to this area and will become completely aware of the terrain, weather conditions, geography, flora, fauna etc of that respective area. Even if the LTTe launches a few successful assaults, they will not be able to dislodge 60-80,000 troops, unless they deploy 5-10,000 of its best troops in a continuous operation for several months. The ball is now in the LTTE's court. All what the Army can do now is to concentrate on its own objectives. Let the Tigers do whatever they want. The Army has seen it before and prevailed. It will do so again and, conditions are, prevail better than ever.
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