The ball is in LTTE's court

The Sri Lanka Army is now 3km south of the Kilinochchi Town Periphery. They entered the general area Kokavil two days ago. Troop operations have been parallel to the A-9 in order to encourage civilians to use the highway to escape.

The gratitude for reaching Kilinochchi has to fall on 1 Special Forces and the 57 Division's battalions who have provided yeoman service to the operations from day one. The daring operation launched by 1SF supported by 3GR and 4SR on the 15th of this month resulted in the capture of an area west of Akkarayankulam Tank before the Tigers could extend its trenchline upto the A-9.

The Tiger strategy was to draw the Army into a long drawn out battle right upto the A-9 thus prolonging the advance of troops and also cutting off the A-9 for all civilian movements by making it unsafe. The surprise attack was planned and executed by one of the most highly capable military minds in the Army--Major General Jagath "Chula" Dias. 5 out of 6 LTTE teams inducted into the area from Muhamalai and Nagarkovil were decimated in the attack. It was another huge blow to the Tigers.

The Tigers have no trenchline from beyond this point now. The trenchline was navigated in such a way that the defences will soon become useless as the Army advances have now effectively bypassed it. But the 58 Division is still engaged in attacking the trenchline at Vannerikulam and are moving its troops along the trench, thus keeping LTTE cadres occupied.

Kilinochchi Town is an area roughly around 7km2. Once the Army penetrates the town's periphery a free passage will open-up for civilians directly from Kilinochchi to Vavuniya, provided that the LTTE allows such freedom of movement. In effect, the 57 Division, spearheaded by 1 Special Forces is like the key to opening the floodgates of civilians seeking safety from war.

Troops have, at all times, maintained at least a 1km distance from the A-9, thus keeping the battles away from the road and the road free of dangers for civilian movements. This is true from Omanthai upto Kokavil through Mankulam. However, the Army is poised to breach the gap and reach the A-9 as soon as it is required to rescue the civilians and transport them to Vavuniya for safety.

A team from 1 Special Forces and 3 Commando also commenced a recce with orders to launch surgical strikes at an LTTE buildup at Puliyankulam. This area was used as a launching-pad for attacks on the Vavuniya Airbase and SFHQ.

Both the 56 Division operating east of the A-9 and Task Force 2 operating as holding divisions have been ordered to be vigilant of this build-up which is acting as a deterrence against civilians escaping LTTE clutches. Already, some 35,000 civilians who attempted to escape have been held against their will by these units.

The Army, though taking calculated risks has put the ball in the LTTE's court. The forcible detention and blocking of refugees from escaping to safety have all been at the LTTE's initiative and not at the initiative of the Army. The longer the LTTE blocks civilian movements the more pressure it will face both internally and externally.