Tigers have started constructing a new trenchline from Thannimurippu (Tank) north to Nayaru. A few weeks ago LTTE suddenly withdrew its troops and redeployed them several kilometers behind their original positions in order to facilitate the construction of this trench. The move comes with the realization that any further progress by the SLA could spell disaster for the organization.
The areas behind Nayaru and Tannimurippu are crucial for the Tigers in terms of access to sea and supplies and also to infiltrate the south by land and sea. The strategic Sea Tiger base at Alampil lies north of Nayaru.
The next bouts of severe fighting could erupt along this trench within the next few weeks. Mi-24 helicopter gunships engaged the new line last Saturday. Casualties to the Tigers are unknown.
The LTTE has also extended its trenchline spanning Nachchikuda through Vannerikulam towards Kilinochchi by adding another 7kms of trenches. 130mm Howitzers and reinforcements have been called in from Pooneryn, Muhamalai and Nagarkovil respectively. The trenchline has been divided among Theepan of the Agnikeela fame, Bhanu the shamed Eastern Commander and Lakshman from Mannar.
Theepan is in Nachchikuda but in overall supervision due to his artillery training and Bhanu is at Vennerikulam where he launched 18 counter attacks in one day from three different locations at 10 GR troops.
The defensive measures of the LTTE have increased particularly after 4 SR troops almost breached the trenchline capturing 600 square meters last week. 4SR was within 9km to Kilinochchi Town when LTTE launched a massive counter attack initially against Charlie and Delta Companies of 4SR. The CO of Charlie Company died a valiant death after refusing to withdraw.
The Tigers have redesigned the trench, making the soil dams higher, followed by a deep trench. The way the trench is designed, the Tigers have virtually shut themselves off from the south. Bunkers constructed on the banks at regular intervals have gun holes almost in a 360 degree angle to avoid any surprises.
The bunkers have been reinforced by 12.7mm HMGs and Automatic canons. Sniper teams and spotters have also been deployed. Counter-attack Teams have been deployed at various locations behind the trench.
Despite these fortifications, the Army gained control and holds half a kilometer long stretch of the trench starting from the beach in Nachchikuda. They have breached the trench at 5 other points as well.
Monday, September 8, 2008
More trenches as LTTE digs in for final battle
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//The CO of Charlie Company died a valiant death after refusing to withdraw.//
Why did he forget "No dying for our land. Let them die for theirs"? If he keep this in mind he is fighting today.
___________________________________________________
This trench business came into picture long time ago. Thus SLA need to have some stratergy for this.
The Army gained control and holds half a kilometer long stretch of the trench starting from the beach in Nachchikuda. They have breached the trench at 5 other points as well.
Great!!
:)
Thank you for the update!!
Can you answer my questions from the previous thread?
He came back immediately after a previous injury. Good soldiers die in war. No-one is bullet-proof!
su,
Mis have been very actively supporting ground troops. They are the best SLAF support troops have got.
Yes the LTTE has redirected their canons (not all). Unless a FLIR system tracks them by chance, they have to be coerced out, located and then bombed in time. This is not as easy as you think.
The WLR for tracking trajectory weapons are in use but they are not adequate in terms of number of units deployed.
I feel carpet bombing along the trench line is one option since no civilians around.
I am pretty sure SLDF commanders have options for Theepan, Banu and Other terrorists.
Thanks DW. Your efforts highly appreciated.
Please keep up with the commentary.
Thanks DW,
yes good men are lost at war.
The pics from TN showed their 12.7mm W85 being used along with Marksmen (equipped with AK/T-56 with PSO-1 like scopes & cheek pads)
looks like we could have a fluid sniper/counter sniper campaign ahead.
The repositioning of the 130mm could mean some strong indirect fire directed at our spearheads.. time to keep the kelama’s top side with red eyes looking down and Hinds on call.
guys...lets go tiger bashing...!!!
i heard that we got some bunker busters from a friendly country...dont know whether this is true or false. we can use them against the tigers defenses affectively.
Attack is the best form of defence...by using strategy, and surprise, we can minimise our loses and take out tigers from their hiding places.
This trench will fall after some time. Is this some sort of a diversion?
Four SLA troopers killed in mistaken ambush in Batticaloa
[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 September 2008, 00:25 GMT]
A unit of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers lying in ambush in Vadamunai village in Koa'ra'laippattu South District Secretariat’s administrative area, mistaking another group of SLA soldiers as Liberation Tigers, fired at the troopers, killing four of them Friday night, sources in Batticaloa said.
The confrontation took place near Miniminththave’li, a border village in Batticaloa.
TRUE OR FALSE??.about the friendly fire incident??
DefenceWire,
Many thanks for the great posts.
Saman,
carpet bombing is exactly what we should not do right now and waste our bombs.Lets keep the planes and bombs ready when these LTTE buffoons launch this ceaseless wave(infinity-minus one)..the target kill as many cadres as possible. However i would prefer them to surrender.
Yes...i agree. Khelama's(drones) are very very important.Especially when detecting heavy earth movers, LTTE cadre movements, spottig bunker formations, and spotting enemy artillary
ceaseless wave = MBRL's
Ninja,
I am sure the CO did not withdraw because he wanted to inflict as many casualties as possible on the enemy and also most of his troops were either injued or dead and he wanted to die with them.We need to start nameing schools after our brave heroes.FCUK this royal college,St thomas college and colleges etc.
Was there a bomb explosion in Colombo Fort few minutes ago ?
Ninja,
I think all our schools should be named after our national heroes regardless of ethnicity lest the future generations forget.
some say they heard a "blast" around gaspa junc.
@bimsara,
According to DN report 6 injured. blast in fort.
Minor explosion at Gas Paha junction -Colombo
A minor explosion has occurred at Gas Paha junction in Colombo around 9.45 PM. Police suspect a hand grenade has been exploded by an unknown party. According to the available information few people have suffered injuries in the explosion.
Police conduct further investigations
[a hand grenade has been exploded by an unknown party]
Bomba Partiyak wage
"FCUK this royal college"
Now, now this is a bit too thick, if you know the number of great officers and gentlemen these schools have produced....who are giving leadership to the war.
"Tigers have virtually shut themselves off from the south. "
Oh boy, they have caged themselves in. We only need to breach the trench, turn back and paste them to the trenches. They don't have enough manpower to fight a trench war (and to implement defense in depth), and the advantage is with us; exciting times anticipated ahead.
Not that I'm necessarily advocating this approach, but you don't exactly need bombs to carpet bomb a fixed position.
A friend of mine in the US Marines worked with a Vietnam era C-130 crewman who told him about a novel way of turning hostile forces into crispy critters.
C-130s can be fitted with an internal fuel tank in their storage bay. One day while flying over a combat zone, soldiers on the ground were calling for air support when no bombers were available. The C-130 this guy was on had a gun-ho crew that decided to fly over the Viet Cong position and drop their 3,600 gallon fuel tank right on top of them. The resulting fireball consumed the hostile forces and most of the local forest life.
The blast was so large, accuracy wasn't all that important so it woked out even though they had no bomb sights.
Again, I'm not saying Sri Lanka should do this, but if anyone in the SLAF has a sense of humor, it might be worth considering a night time bombing raid with cargo planes.
Hi DW,
All this time I thought Operation Ceaseless waves and Aghni kheela were one and the same. Correct me if I am wrong.
Rover,
There is nothing wrong with the heroes royal has produced so as to speak..its the name..these are these idiotic names selected during the British occupation of SLanka at a guess..we are supposed to have dropped all this in 1972..real changes are needed.I dont really care if the valient CO who sacrified his life and others are not from colombo-7 or dont belong to the "Hilton" lunch crowd but we need to honour them and this is the best way i can think of.
Rover,
the way i see it this is all one country and not 3-ie colombo and suburbs,other southern provinces,and GOD LORD "Simon Gardeners"..LTTE area.
A explosion in Colombo injured nine people this evening
TamilNewsWorld.com
DW, many thanks for the updates. Really appreciate it.
I posted this earlier on DefNet and hope you find it useful.
How to turn LTTE trench defences into LTTE burial grounds
Here's how the US-led coalition dealt with Iraqi trench defences in the 1st Gulf War:
"Thousands of Iraqi soldiers, some of them firing their weapons from first world war-style trenches, had been buried by ploughs mounted on Abrams tanks.
The tanks had flanked the lines so that tons of sand from the plough spoil had funnelled into the trenches. Just behind the tanks, straddling the trench line, came Bradleys pumping machine-gun bullets into Iraqi troops."
and as important, this: "The operation had been rehearsed repeatedly, weeks before, on a mile-long trench line built according to satellite photographs.
The finishing touches were made by armoured combat earth-movers (ACEs). These massive bulldozers, with armoured cockpits impervious to small-arms fire, smoothed away any hint of the carnage."
from The Guardian
http://tinyurl.co.uk/yc0n
I'm sure that SLA can do something similar with their T55 tanks and/or armoured bulldozers with mounted ploughs (locally modified) accompanied by BMPs and infantry to take care of any surviving LTTE infantry.
To be buried alive is admittedly not a very pleasant way to die, but needs must etc.
Is there a possibility of flooding these trenches? Any tank close by?
It'll be fun to watch the rodents pop their heads up and snipers poping up their heads.
I agree, we have to locate these arti guns. New Kelamas have night vision capabilities i feel.
We can get some help from Israel sattelites.This is the time we want their help.
And guys can we stop accussing the schools. Almost all the schools have produce good officers/soldiers. Some of them have scrified their lives for our mother land.
We are Rawana's people. We have faced our enimies throught our history.
DW,
Are we still holding the breached locations or those have taken back by these F.... LTTE bastards??
Thanks for all the updates
Most of you guys are fighting the war infront of screens with out even coming out of your dens. Think about a way to help the ongoing efforts.
While i agree with SriLankan about honouring our heroes, i think renaming our schools should be the least of our concerns because it is unnecessarily divisive at a time when the entire nation should stand united.
There will be a time - hopefully soon - to honour them in various ways.
Also, i am not quite sure any of my schoolmates who have laid down their lives for the country would want the school that they loved so much and enabled them to serve their motherland to be renamed in their honour. I think most schools know who are heroes they have produced and pay their respects regularly.
Forks,
Report any LTTE website (even in tamil) hosted by any US Company to the FBI here:
https://tips.fbi.gov/
However, do not try to span this site off course!
Thanks DW, we owe a lot to you for keeping us informed.
They must have a plan for when the monsoons come in. I wonder if the 'soil dams' will result in flooding in the cleared areas, while the other side is drained by the trenches. Something to look out for before it is too late.
lankapura,
You can put your mind at rest.this will not occur.Firstly i assume this area has got gravel so the gravel will absorb water and flooding will be prevented o some extent.If it rains very heavily it is possible that the dam may "shear" or slip in some places..when the water starts to permiate the soil under the concrete bunkers..so no need to worry..which means the primary purpose of constructing the dam is lost..which is to delay our troops and create an impregnable barrier..This is a possibility unless the dam is constructed in concrete
Relative dull in Vanni OPs means LTTE have really found a solution for SLA's fast break attacks now. It is think-tank strategy time for Sinhala modayas to overcome the LTTE trench lines as one modaya,Rover, pointed out earlier that WW1 strategy of humans waves against trench would be effective one. May be this modaya,Rover, thinks that LTTE still uses WW1 type shot-guns in their trench lines, so advancing troops in waves will breach the FDL with minimal loss.
Trivia for modayas.
How many bullets per minute can be sprayed with a shot-gun?
Thnks DW. We do appreciate your effort.
mango, tanks arent going to work here because the jungle is too thick. iraq is a desert.
now why arent slaf destroying the earth moving equipment at least?
If earth moving equipment can work in that terrain, why not tanks?
Guys,
What is the worst case scenario...
I found something intresting..Check this out...
The Tigers shocking counterattack: A worst case scenario
16. 08 .2008
http://www.asiantribune.com/?q=node/12757
Only six months more to end the war
26. 07. 2008
http://www.asiantribune.com/?q=node/12403
[Is there a possibility of flooding these trenches? Any tank close by?]
DW certainly opened the flood-gate for all the modayas to chip-in their ideas by his white-paper style analysis.
Sinhala Queen,Ruwani, can come up with a better strategy. Last time she cracked the world that anyone who carries gas cylinder in Galle road could be potential nuclear bomb threat from Eelamists. Long live Diva!
VP's wife and kids are ran away to s-affrica...well vealu is next.
best wepon to fight trenche war is Flamethrower...
SLA please keep your Gas masks handy.. - its comming soon...
LTTE Sakkielie will do anything and everything right about now...
"DW certainly opened the flood-gate for all the modayas to chip-in their ideas by his white-paper style analysis."
it is cherry pop time for LTTErs....waala
"mango, tanks arent going to work here because the jungle is too thick. iraq is a desert."
simple answer is, take a petrol bowser from suppgaskanda and hang under MI24 then spry all over that thick jungle, then throw a match - barbercu all animal
next day say sorry about that and call it a day.
done deal.
it is time for planes and copters to take centre stage in combat.
low cost flying machines should be deployed with plenty of bombs and ammunition.
we certainly don't need C-130s to bomb as that is not the REQUIREMENT. the requirement is to have MANY SMALL crafts to attacks MANY SMALL LTTE joints that changes so quickly.
to MAXIMISE the LTTE cadre harvest, SLDFs need FAST attacks on MANY places SIMULATANEOUSLY with LOW COST units.
blindly bombing/shelling the trenches/bunds is the STUPIDEST thing SLDFs can do.
if this is not forthcoming SLA should BYPASS trenches and encircle them. REMEMBER it is ALMOST imposible for tigers to fight with their backs to trenches/bunds (on this side).
Defencewire I think its OC Officer Commanding, CO Commanding Officer is for Battalion/Regiment or Brigade (BC sometimes Brigade Commander).
Trench warfare has been effective before.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trench_warfare
From Wiki
This is not to say entrenchment is redundant. It is still a valuable method for reinforcing natural obstacles to create a line of defence. For example, before the start of the Battle of Kursk, the Soviets constructed a system of defence more elaborate than any other they built during World War II. These defences succeeded in stopping the German armoured pincers meeting and enveloping the salient.[11] Also, at the start of the Battle of Berlin, the last major assault of World War II, the Russians attacked over the river Oder against German troops dug in on the Seelow Heights, about 50 km (30 mi) east of Berlin. Entrenchment allowed the Germans, who were massively outnumbered, to survive a barrage from the largest concentration of artillery in history; as the Red Army attempted to cross the marshy riverside terrain, they lost tens of thousands of casualties to the entrenched Germans before breaking through.
From people intrested in Military series, watch this. Its by Tom Hanks and Speilberg, one of the best war time based series and movie ike quality effects.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastogne_(Band_of_Brothers)#Episodes
Another movie which would be of intrest here would be the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tali-Ihantala_1944
Battle of Tali-Ihantala
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tali-Ihantala
Fantastic movie in Finnish. Its about how the Finnish Forces stalled the Russian Jegurnaut and preserved their independence.
Defencewire,
"Theepan is in Nachchikuda but in overall supervision due to his artillery training and Bhanu is at Vennerikulam where he launched 18 counter attacks in one day from three different locations at 10 GR troops."
I think you may have accidentally reversed Mr. Artillery Bhanu with Mr. Agni Kheela Theepan. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that this trench system in Akkarayankulam was inspired from Theepan's experiences fortifying LTTE's defenses at Muhamalai.
Rover,
"But the key was directing overwhelming firepower to a single location which is called "Center of Gravity"."
Yes you are entirely correct. Center of gravity is one of the most misunderstood/misapplied concepts in military theory.
"Because the LTTE does not have powerful mechanized division, they are not very effective in emulating Blitzkreig tactics, in the sense of what happened in WWII."
Karuna had improvised in the 1st phase of Unceasing Waves III in 1999, when he put his boys in jeeps and trucks to exploit the initial victory at Oddusuddan to eventually drive the SLA back to Omanthai in less than a week of combat.
"Defending territory vigorously allows for human wave type of attack (and also blitzkrieg); and this is why I think LTTE was able to overwhelm us in many battles using HWs. This was the point that I was trying to get across in my previous post."
Yes, I think that is what DW is arguing here. Because the LTTE has hunkered down in these trenches, it will be relatively easy for the SLA to find weak areas to exploit.
Strange how the guerrilla is getting out-guerrillaed in this war....
ONE TIGER AIR CRAFT DOWN.....
da da da da da daaaaaa :-))
Takaran down .. ane paw ..
BREAKING NEWS!!!...........
Air Force destroys LTTE aircraft – Mullaittiuvu
Sri Lanka Air Force has shot down one of the aircraft belonged to the LTTE terrorist this morning (Sept 9). Air Force spokesperson Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara speaking to defence.lk said, the aircraft has been shot down in the Mualaithiuvu skies while running away following a failed mission.
More information will follow…
//Good soldiers die in war.//
Actually I am sitting in a AC room should not critisize our soldiers in the battlefield. Media reported LTTE handed 29 SLA bodeis. DW only reported CO of one groupd died after refusing to withdraw. I beleive there are many unheard such heroic stories burried with those soldiers without knowing to anyone. But please excuseme to say this though it may seem I am rude or critisize our army.
I think there are two pictures in the battle field. One is the small picture which is the ground situation right there which is known to fighters there. The other is the big picture which includes the battle situation and future plans, targaets, resources and other mlitary, economic and political factors.
I think whoever the higher commander saw the big picture and ask to withdraw becuz it is the best desicion. I think if withdrawed SLA might lost some land but save some lives and avoid going bodies to LTTE. May be this CO saw a chance to kill many LTTE cadres and he did that and died.
However, finally this resulted in going 29 bodeis to LTTE, parade to civilians in wanni and it atleast temporely stopped civilian movement to GSL areas. Further, the pics given to diaspora boosted their moral and increased funding.
So if he withdrawed (of course, with his men and whepons, safely) we may loose some land, few tigers still live but our soldiers also live to fight next day and LTTE will miss all that propaganda. That's why I beleive if he was ordered to withdraw its a correct decesion and his bravness plus refusal cost his life and more to SLA.
//Good soldiers die in the war.// I would say good soldiers survive to fight tomorrow in the war unless you end the war today.
When SLA entered MavilAru to Mallavi by withdrawing LTTE did the right thing. If they fight to keep Mavil Aru they should have put all their strength there and by now all LTTE is over. LTTE will never fight a final battle, until the last cadre. They will always save lives of cadres to fight tomorrow. Even though we make fun when LTTE make withdrawals there is some thing called 'tactical withdrawals' in military books and its there becuz its importent and valid.
Finally, I don't understand what's the hurry some people have to end this 25 years long war. It took one year to go this far in wanni and we should expect more longer to go the rest as it is the hardest part as per every one.
___________________________________________________
SriLankan
//I am sure the CO did not withdraw because he wanted to inflict as many casualties as possible on the enemy and also most of his troops were either injued or dead and he wanted to die with them.//
This is my thought too.
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//We need to start nameing schools after our brave heroes.FCUK this royal college,St thomas college and colleges etc.//
//I think all our schools should be named after our national heroes regardless of ethnicity lest the future generations forget.//
//"FCUK this royal college"
I don't know why SL wanted renaming schools. It won't cost a thing exept to repaint the board. But some soldiers die for land while they don't have their own land in south. They don't have own home. What they need is taking care of promary things first and other 'respects' can be done later. However, we better rename say Bance place, Torrignton square etc which are the names of English governers who invaded us by these names of herioc soldiers.
_________________________________________________
Rover
//Now, now this is a bit too thick, if you know the number of great officers and gentlemen these schools have produced....who are giving leadership to the war.//
You are partly true. Unfortunately it is the same Royal, Thomas etc gang who don't let the real talanted guys from village schools to go to the top in SLDF exept SLA. (Its GenSF changed that system in SLA.)
a breakthrough!
well done SLDFs; destroy the rest and make the MOST of the pilot if survived.
Hot news
Air Force destroys LTTE aircraft – Mullaittiuvu
Weldone SLAF
Finally..
One tin can down
One more to go
Well Done SLAF !
IT'S JOB WELL DONE SLAF!!
CONGRATULATIONS!!
DW,
PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO REPORT THE CASUALTIES OF LTTE BOMBINGS THIS MORNING
Good job SL Air Force .
one of the nation who did Air to Air attack in real war.
well done. keep it up . we are always backin up.
wake up Sri Lanka it is 6.30 .Tiger meet for breakfast ! early brecky !
Finally the LTTE gets the return! Isn't this what we've been looking for?
what happend to the other tin can. Has the SLAF found where the other tin can landed?
"Air Force destroys LTTE aircraft – Mullaittiuvu"
Ela...da..bra
heh now we talking....ya way-to-go
Ohoma yan...
I would be dying to see a UAV footage of the debris, if there are any! :D
i hope slaf gets a uav out there immediately to locate the wreckage and confirm the kill. if possible send mi-24 and bomb the crap out of tigers trying to salvage anything.
Well done SLAF & NO.5 Squadron!! And they had fired a missile, Im itching to know if it was a PL-5 or PL-7! may be even a AIM-9
Hope we dropped a few clusters on the place the other one landed.
Historical day for SLAF & Sri Lanka!!
This is aircraft genocide people . baaawak !!
Await pictures on TamilNet after successful air raid.
The LTTE photoshop editor is now so busy thinking ways to create pictures of it.
So many old pics to edit, so little time, the di-ass-pora is waiting!
"i hope slaf gets a uav out there immediately to locate the wreckage and confirm the kill"
After all these are TINS...what wreckage macho!!!!
address nathuwa athi
Weldone SLAF..Great
Guys, when a mosquito was killed, do you look for a wreckage too?
I would be surprised if SLAF spot a wreckage. This is not a Jumbo Jet that was destroyed.
Great day for SLAF! Well-done!
Noltte=peace!
right on mark!! well this is a day i will never forget. SL's first Air to Air Kill!!
Yes an Air-to-air missile is too much for a tin can! :D
First of all congrats to SLAF. I was dreaming past few months to see SL’s first A-A Kill. Finally da dream comes true.
//Good soldiers die in war.//
This CO that DW has mentioned is personally a good friend of mine. I have never seen a courage’s person than him in entire my life. First time he lost his some fingers and his buddy got killed (This happened in a minor DPU attack conducted by them- Most of the SR officers got a SF crash course from Maduruoya). And he managed to carry his buddy’s body alone, with a heavily bleeding hand from few kilometers behind enemy lines. But this brave solder rests only for one week and went back to battle. Few weeks before his death he got another injury from a Motar when serving in the FDL. For this injury he took only a one day off and gone back to the Front to serve his beloved mother land.
Even when his death happens he could have escaped easily. But he draws back and tries to retaliate LTTE flank attack. He simply can’t see his men falling in the Front.
These stories needs to be known by Sri lankans and they needs to get to know how our brave solders sacrifices their everything to protect us.
"FCUK this royal college"
SriLankan,
Umba mechchjara kal hondata hitiya eka... what happened bro ?
thambala
you said in a previous post I think the key to tackling this trench is Nachchikuda(NC). It is situated on one end of the trench.
The fall of NC will lay bare the LTTE side of the trench to SLA by moving north a bit.
So to make NC fall the SLN can play a big role by using different tactics and put pressure on them and make it fall sooner than later.
what say you?
September 8, 2008 12:07 PM
DW's latest post says
Despite these fortifications, the Army gained control and holds half a kilometer long stretch of the trench starting from the beach in Nachchikuda. They have breached the trench at 5 other points as well.
so he trench at NC has been breached.
now what? troops can filter in through that end?
You are right.
Best thing is to ignore these stupid comments. Why don't we restrict this site purely for Defense News?
Thanks DW. You are doing great...
You are right.
Best thing is to ignore these stupid comments. Why don't we restrict this site purely for Defense News?
Thanks DW. You are doing great...
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