A large contingent of Commandos from the Police Special Task Force (STF) completed their training and passedout from the Kalutara STF Training School on Monday. This was the second batch to passout this year (a batch passed out in February prior to this).
The Special Task Force is the Sri Lanka Police Department's Paramilitary Wing and has a rank and file similar to the Sri Lanka Army. The unit is deployed primarily in the Eastern Province and specializes in Counterinsurgency Operations. The STF also plays a major role in defending Colombo and other major cities in the south.
A decision was made to start recruiting STF personnel after a long layoff in enlistment and training some years ago and since then, the unit has enjoyed a high rate of enlistment particularly in the recent past along with the three branches of mainstream Military.
The main criticism against the STF has been its recent inability to destroy a group of around 150 LTTE cadres hiding in jungles from Peraru to Yala. The task, however is herculean considering the LTTE's practice of hide and seek as opposed to face-to-face combat. A Special Forces unit is also deployed in the south to counter this threat in case of an emergency.
Earlier this year, several STF camps in the East (including Thirukkovil and Arantalawa) were vacated and relocated to Mannar and Weli Oya and new Army Brigades were established at Vakarai, Thoppigala, Sithandi and Morawewa (in addition to the Morawewa SLAF base) to rectify the situation. This move, however, diverted four new Brigades of the Army from operational duties from the North, where they were originally intended for deployment.
Recently, the Defence Ministry, the SLA and the STF have come to an agreement to rectify the situation by gradually increasing the cadre of the STF. Already, Batticaloa Town is under STF oversight. It is hoped that the new recruits who passedout on Monday would become part of the country's defenses against terrorists.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
New STF recruits to defend the motherland
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68 comments:
Good luck!
may the triple gem bless you all.
Heavy fighting in Manniyakulam area.
Rapid movement through A32? or SLDF managed to use another path to reach Manniyakulam area?
What hapenned to the LTTE carders in nachchikuda?
They are on the way to hell
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20080820_06
simply STUNNING!
i'm very pleased with the planners. their timing is perfect. there's a lot going into this than meets the eye. the general sentiment has to be kept up ALWAYS to be able to RECRUIT at any given time in preparation for FUTURE plans.
well done! may god bless sri lankan forces.
is this a new development or a correction?
from defence.lk.
"According to the Air Forces sources two simultaneous air sorties were carried out by the supersonic fighter jets around 4.45 p.m targeting LTTE defences at 2 1/2 Km east of Nachchikuda and another 3 Km north-east of Nachchikuda.
Meanwhile, MI-24 helicopter gun ships also carried two separate air attacks targeting LTTE defences one in 1/2 Km north of Nachchikuda and another in 3Km north-east of Nachchikuda around 5.00 p.m. Air Force sources added. "
1. 3 Km north-east of Nachchikuda has been bombed BOTH by jets and MILs within 15 minutes.
i hope these attacks were "COMPLIMENTARY" attacks where one compliments the other. jets can take larger targets and MILs smaller or residual targets.
2. we are slow in nachchikuda which is OK. but what is not OK is not having depth as before.
Defencewire, why do they leave the rifle on the floor. Is that normal pratice. In most uniformed groups, the weapon has to be inclined facing outwards in at ease posture and straight up at attention posture.
[Defencewire, why do they leave the rifle on the floor.]
From the picture, I see these guys will have difficulties of lifting the even 10 lbs weight, look at the guy on the middle row(2R1C), if he lifts his rifle, his hand will break into two pieces. Oh man...DW Are you mistaken 'scout boys' for SF? They are just fresh off the O/L exam.
No wonder why they have decided to leave the rifles on the ground.
Good luck boys!
Are there any STF in the front lines now?
Navindran,
I think it's part of their oath-taking. I have seen this before in pictures of passing out parades. But this seems to be something done by 'special' units and not regular regiments.
Bhairav,
Please don't be moronic enough to judge people by their body size. According to your theory, how can a 7 year old LTTE child soldier even lift a T-56, let alone point it in the right direction and fire, controlling the recoil?
A month ago a US based defence analyst predicted a rapid collapse for the LTTE once the SLA breaks thru the coastal defences. THough no reasons were elaborated, the prediction obviously was based on solid intel.
Expect intermittant fierce resistance, followed by large casualty numbers, desperate thrusts and soft targettings in civillian centers (which our guys are getting really good at preventing) and crescendoing NGO litanies.
Reign in the NGO dog crap SLG., or kick them out. Contrary to popular belief, the last ten (10) miles could very well be a smooth ride.
Pakistan to help in Colombo’s final battle against Tigers- Pakistan Dawn- 2008/08/21
TS,
value you comments, mate. tigers have collapsed to an extent. but not quite so YET. we haven't reached the turning point YET as far as LTTE's actual WIPE OUT is concerned.
in other words we are not totally above jayasikurui yet. our defences have been solid so far. LTTE has not attacked us continueosly.
i expect the battle for kilinochci will be that moment.
look at it like a company in restructuring as a last resort for survival. it will shed low margin products/markets, low ROI projects and as they said many decades ago "stick to the knitting". LTTE is doing this remarkably well. it has identified that it cannot be in the businesses of,
1. public administration
2. controlling vanni
3. "de facto" state operations
OTOH SLDFs have been still UNABLE to capture (we definetely will capture them) areas of HIGH strategic importance to tigers' CORE business - survival.
EP, K-point, kili, mulaitivu, mallavi, mankulam, paranthan, etc. are still with them.
pulutta,
thx.
that means 12 shiploads of stuff until year end. tigers are in for it.
any countries willing to test their new arti, ammo, bombs, etc., etc. in real battle conditions????
come on board with the stuff. there are not many opportunities elsewhere.
free explosives for SL, free LIVE trials for them!!
hate to say it, but i said so. may be terrorists were planning a classic flank attck on the 57 division from 7km from omanthai.
i said on 19/08,
"the area AROUND omanthai entry/exit point is going to stay as it is (more or less) for humanitarian reasons. this means the adjoining tiger areas are going to be under LTTE control for a long time. we discussed this.
this poses a BIG threat to SLA in the event they try to cross A9 from WEST to EAST north of omanthai. it allows tigers an ideal opportunity to attack SLA flanks in that event. DESPERATE tigers don't understand HUMANITARIAN reasons and the kindness of the govt.
in DELIBERATELY allowing tigers to "keep" a stretch of land connecting the entry/exit point around omanthai to the tiger heartland, the govt. has done a mistake. but the govt has no other choice either.
TF extra care should be taken on account of a flank attack from the SOUTH (N & E are also possible) WHEN SLA try to cross the A9 from WEST to EAST. tigers WILL use the stretch imediately north of omanthai to shell SLA positions.
August 19, 2008 5:09 AM"
from defence.lk
"SLAF MI-24 Helicopters raid LTTE gathering point - Omanthai
Sri Lanka Air Force MI-24 Helicopters has accurately engaged an identified LTTE gathering place at Omanthai in Vavuniya district this morning, 21 August.
Air Force spokesperson, Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara, speaking to defence.lk said that the air bombardment carried out observing an LTTE's gathering 7 Km north-west of Omanthai around 6.30 a.m.
The Sri Lanka Air Force is continuously carrying out air surveillances to locate the LTTE terrorists and to identify the intensified activities in the enemy territory."
SLDFs should be very careful about omanthai and sorrounding areas. tigers don't understand humanitarian concerns.
DBSJ says Tigers have used just 40% of their cadres to date, mostly raw recruits and that their elite formations and arms have been kept intact.
Does he have inside info( i.e. correct report), or is he being used( via leaks) by Tigers for psy-ops(i.e.bollocks)?
One bad sign for SLA is that though Tigers have given up a thousand sq kms to date in North, they have always withdrawn in order, leaving nary a vehicle/heavy arms/stocks behind.This means their most crucial resources are being conserved , though at a price( Land). Is this a sign of weakness( as in East 2006-7) ,or is there a plan to it( as in JSK 1997-9)?
Time will tell.
Brave Sons of Sri Lanka ! May you all be able to finish this menace of terrorism
Moshe.. It’s a vital thing that u hv pointed out here. The Omanthai Entry/Exit Point. Obviously these are the places that LTTE can exploit to gain its advances. As I said b4 , killing arnd 150 SLA in one go would be enough to gain back the trust of loosing di-ass pora.
I got a new news leaked out from LTTE. They are training some black tigers for a special attack in south. Mainly targeting our military installations rather than civilians. Most venerable places are KAB and KAB. Can u believe how they are trying to sneak into these places this time around ? Its mainly through sewages pipes . B cz most of these venerable places are linked to sea or at least some water canals through sewage pipes.
As per the intel I got, they are training underwater scuba units that they already have for this special operation. Cz they can come under water and then underground using sewages even though we have under water nets to defend these sewage pipes. It could be easy cut trough with out detection.
My Intel might be false. But vise to prepare for any kinda infiltrate .
codered,
"Most vulnerable places are KAB and KAB." you put it nicely!!
+ oil + ports (12 arms shipments due)
omanthai - not only bcos it is the entry/exit point but also bcos it is to the SOUTH of NEW SLA positions.
STD,
i agree with 40% being USED.
=9000/23000 = 39% almost 40%.
23k = 10k reg + 13k civilian troops.
BUT that doesn't mean 23k-9k=14k LEFT. it is 14k + X k = (X+14)k
X-new recruits in the recent mad rush
Moshe,,
I mean KAB and RAB. srry 4 da mistake.
Do you (OR DW) has any idea about what are da stuff v receiving from Pakistan ?
I meant to say that in LTTE :
In the photo atleast that boy has a sound body and mind
There are serving cadres who are :
heart and diabetics patients
mental cases who should never come into contact with a gun
handicaps or severely injured people ie. one hand missing, blown knee, gunshot wounds.
Suicidal cases
sever ulcer and kidney patients
75% blind cases
These days when LTTE goes to a family to catch one of their children, the parents often give the weakest or sickest child who often turns out to be totally useless.
The list just grows
I meant to say that in LTTE :
In the photo atleast that boy has a sound body and mind
There are serving cadres who are :
heart and diabetics patients
mental cases who should never come into contact with a gun
handicaps or severely injured people ie. one hand missing, blown knee, gunshot wounds.
Suicidal cases
sever ulcer and kidney patients
75% blind cases
These days when LTTE goes to a family to catch one of their children, the parents often give the weakest or sickest child who often turns out to be totally useless.
The list just grows
kaati,
bad scene. never meant to offend them.
SRI LANKA SHOULD NOW ANNOUNCE A GLOBAL NOTICE THAT IT WILL TAKE OFFENSIVE ACTION AGAINST ANY AIR CRAFT ATTEMPTING TO LAND ON IT'S TERRITORY CLANDESTINELY!
Well... with the following added for good measure...
SRI LANKA SHOULD NOW ANNOUNCE A GLOBAL NOTICE THAT IT WILL TAKE OFFENSIVE ACTION AGAINST ANY AIR CRAFT ATTEMPTING TO LAND ON IT'S TERRITORY CLANDESTINELY TO HELP THE LTTE TERRORISTS!
DW-
Thank you for sharing another bulleting with all of us.
may the triple gem bless them all.
We all are proud of them.
Welcome to the future Sri Lanka
The Renaming of cities in Sri Lanka:
Back to the Roots
MAP SRILANKA
achilles,
the map is FANTASTIC.
ok, why do you want to come and rename the tamil areas into Sinhala ones ?
Why can't you understand that the only reason that the SL governemnt has some hope of finishing off tigers is because of Tamils like me who have betrayed and even killed tigers ( who are our own people).It's something that we have to live with for rest of our lives, so that the Sinhala people can live in peace.
Instead of helping people like us, you want to take advantage. I wish Sinhala people would come into Vanni and live with us, even spread Buddhism. But why try and subjugate our people and rub it into our nose by changing the names of places ?
According to reports arriving from Mullaittivu Eastern battlefront, troops of Army 57 division are now encircling the Tunukkai town amid heavy resistance from the terrorists. Troops have commenced approaching the strategically vital town from the North and the West since early this morning (Aug 21).
Troops operating in the North of Tunnukai have so far found two bodies of LTTE cadres following a confrontation occurred around 11.35 AM.
Tunnukkai town is situated on the halfway of the Vellankulama and Mankulama road and has been a strategic nerve centre for LTTE for last 25 years.
kaati,
that was NOT the idea in my case. i found the names just fantastic.
e.g. walas hena, kotiyawewa, etc.
i don't think anybody wants to change names.
Army encircles Tunukkai town; troops march amid heavy resistance
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20080821_04
I hope we have been ambushing the route between thunukkai and mankulam. Otherwise they would have removed much people and stuff from Thunukkai and Mallavi..
yeah. uav's should be monitoring any escape routes and air force, especially mi-24 should be on standby.
kaatikuddupaan said...
ok, why do you want to come and rename the tamil areas into Sinhala ones ?
these are the ancient cities of Sri Lanka man... no need to rename..
Exp.
Kotiyaweawa (ancient srilankan name) = Puliyankulam (tamil translation)
yeh i dont like this renaming rubbish either. leave the past behind and look to future. dont repeat the same mistakes.
kaatikuddupaan said...
ok, why do you want to come and rename the tamil areas into Sinhala ones ?
Kaati,
I believe I owe a brief explanation on this. When I use the "previously" used sinhala place names I am simply establishing the heritage of the Sinhala people too in these areas and their right to live in these areas too as do the Tamils have the same right elsewhere in the Island. With this I will stop and expect no response from you or others and I will do my very best not to recomment on this.
@kaati
Hey dont take it seriuosly.. because i dont think that is even an issue. Because no matter what we would achive on the war front there have to be political solution after to that make sure tamil and other minorities have all the right as sinhalese..
this last 30 years have proved that. So there may be poeple saying this and that but most of us here (I believe ) Support a proper political package to protect the right of tamils. otherwise in few years its going to be war again
Thunukkai on the wikimap
Thunukkai on Wikimap
ex-surveyor Uma Maheswaran (one of master mind behind 1983 July riots) is the one who submitted these tamil names in 1980.all the "KULAMS" and "ARU" WAWA(Irrigation tank) Ganga (River) he changed to tamil by force.NGO's and some indian authorities forced SL Government to changed this Sinhala names to Tamil. this is completely psycho by terrorists.no wonder if they claimed first Niandathal was in "NILEARU" used thamil dialects !
but i believe this is happened only in Sri Lanka. please try to changed village names in US,UK,Canada,AUS or Norway .
Traditional Sinhala place names of cities in Sri Lanka
hello all,
Changing names to Sinhala by force is not a good idea. This will cause the distrust and hatred to continue.
After this war we must forgive and be very compassionate towards the Tamil people, specially those who are were living under LTTE rule for over 25 years.
India had a similar problem with the Sheiks 20 years ago, which was a very violent rebellion; resulted in the death of the then Indian PM.
But they have bounced back will to integrate the Sheik population with rest of India. Today Sheiks 's proudly identify them selfs as Indians.
Multiple air raids, Thunnukai encircled. Ohoma yung, ohoma yung, elo elo gahapung!
Tharanga
Multiple air raids, Thunnukai encircled. Ohoma yung, ohoma yung, elo elo gahapung!
Ahsinda ... polowenda... Deyenda ... Godinda ....
Yakoo munta Gageee paninath wenne nahaa yana widiyata ....
Araa Araa Araa Araa Araa .................
The Seeker-
Mate very good point... fully aggreed with your comment.
We will be just asking for more problems.
changing tamil names to sinhala is a very bad idea and practically this will not happen. Government will never encourage or will not get involved in the process. People in the area can decide what name they can choose.
Perein, during the capture of Jaffna in the mid 90s, we had a very articulate military spokesperson, I can't remember his name but his English was immaculate and much much better than the spokespersons these days, he was very old school and of good humour. In one of the press conferences when the army was close to taking Jaffa, he said "The Tigers have no where to go except jumping into the sea", very well said. We might see such a situation now, only difference is that SLN will be waiting for them if they do jump in the sea, for now, only option left to them is to bury their heads into the sands.
PS, what is happening in Nochchikuda, also no updates from Mallavi.
news flash
Taliban has exploded 3 suicide blasts in front of Pakistans largets arm factory south of peshawar.
the implications to this...no need for details...we know...
here is the link
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=India&id=8592804a-6bb5-4541-bc1c-09a1fcb7fc80&&Headline=Suicide+blasts+kill%26nbsp%3b57+at+Pakistan+arms+factory&strParent=strParentID
Tharanga-
what is happening in Nochchikuda, also no updates from Mallavi.
I think we are into the habit of less talk and more work scenario as well as let's do the clean-up then publish...
DW as well as DN does not give much of the things out these days .... However I like the idea of it. All security personals are sticking to one theme.
Another link to the same story
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7574267.stm
However, I think its not a great cause for concern, I don't think the infrastructure was damaged, just a few unfortunate souls died.
Ogre-
You have any news to share from up north of SL please?
Kaati,
"But why try and subjugate our people and rub it into our nose by changing the names of places?"
I too think that using Sinhala names for already existing locations with Tamil names should be discouraged.
But I think it is ok to highlight the Sinhala names and the history behind those names. It will enhance the brotherhood between the two races. It will help most people to understand that the land that they currently live in is not an exclusive property that always belonged to them, but land that various races shared at different points of time. Since it is the LTTE under the leadership of Prabha, that struggled to create a mono-ethnic Tamil Nation, doing what I said above will be useful to educate the brain washed masses that VP subjugated.
http://www.pof.gov.pk/products.htm
http://www.pakistan.gov.pk/divisions/ContentInfo.jsp?DivID=8&cPath=69_75_271&ContentID=3906
The ground ops have a bit slowed because it is raining down in forward operational areas.
As you know we advance in phases...and revealing any further operational details will only help our enemy.
That retired son of a bitch...lone ranger...posted some damning information related to our plans
Why cant he post...how LTTE plans to hold our attacks?
Ogre-
Yep Noticed that Long Ranger article. He published few weeks ago. I cannot simply undestand why need publishing upcoming plans.
New video footage available..
http://defence.lk/videos/20080820_WanniOPS.wmv
Looks to me all the soil looks newly diged....
[Changing names to Sinhala by force is not a good idea. This will cause the distrust and hatred to continue]
I disagree. The roots of the fake Tamil homeland must be obliterated, and the original names, be it Tamil Muslim or Sinhala must be restored.
There will always be opposition for these changes but we need to think beyond the military victory in order to make sure the Tamil sepatatism has ZERO chance and ZERO tolerance in our proud country.
If NUMBERS are to be used for towns... instead of names... even that is good. The bottom line is both the LTTE terrorists (local) and their coolies (foreign) must be looking stupid... when the dust settles.
At that moment of truth... I hope and pray hard that our great leaders would also display the great trait of Sri Lankans... [to be faithful to those who helped us in our our hours of need.]
They are none other that our soldiers and their families who fought for the country. No terrorist, coolie, president or king can dispute that fact.
They should be given FREE LAND from the north and east for recreation, housing and agriculture.
Thunukkai Captured !!
http://www.asiantribune.com/?q=node/12847
Perein, don't believe Asian Tribune (AT), Thunnukai has been encircled not captured. AT has a habit of jumping the gun, earlier that had reported than 1-4 bases had been captured when we had only captured one to two bunkers.
perein
the info is that they've started the final push into the town. soem units seem to have entered the town.
All patriots,
It is nice to see CAS by SLAF in Thunukkai.
perein,
It is not captured yet. AT says still under siege. However lankadeepa.lk says thunukkai will be fallen to SLDF withing few hours.
I too think that changing all place names to Sinhala is a bad idea. Why the hell should we call 'Vellankulam' as 'Bellanwewa'? It has the same meaning and what difference does it make by changing the language? In places where the majority of the population is tamil (or even other places), I see nothing wrong with using tamil names. It's not like we are giving them eelam is it?
Resistance must be tough at Thunukkai. SLA has been attacking since morning. I think it is likely to fall very soon but this is probably not a place where you can predict on times. Especially if the LTTE is trapped there, they have no option but to fight. The fight may be long. Do the LTTE have any important military hardware in Thunukkai?
bhairav
Re; Your comments abt the rifles on the ground-
Forget the rifles. Did you notice the broad shadows starting in between each pair of boots?
What did you think causes those shadows? It's their d*cks, my friend...
And these boys are soon going to be among the Malathi brigade girls...
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