Monday, November 10, 2008

LTTE moving 130mm howitzers?

The Sri Lankan Army entered the village of Kiranchi yesterday after Tigers started withdrawing from the village in the face of the superior firepower of the 58 Division and the guile of the 2 Commando Regiment. A few Tiger units are still trapped inside the land mass at Devil's Point.

Kiranchi is the southern-most village at Devil's point, a strategic area for the LTTE for over two decades and often used as an area to observe movements at sea. The village was being infiltrated by 2 Commando along with Valaipadu and Palavi, as part of an overall strategy of making the areas west of the A-32 unsafe for LTTE, particularly after LTTE units withdrawing from Nachchikuda started moving towards Pooneryn and Devil's Point. By Friday, Tigers had almost completely withdrawn from Kiranchi. They are expected to completely abandon Devil's Point within the next few days.

58 Division troops are close to cutting off land-based escape routes for the trapped Tigers. 11 SLLI and 8GW troops operating ahead of 8th Mile Post on the A-32 are facing Chempiankundu Villu marshland from where they have around 3km to reach the Pooneryn-Paranthan road. The Tigers are expected to put up stiff resistance in this area.

If the road is captured, Tigers may start withdrawing from Pooneryn. Intelligence reports claim they have already moved 130mm howitzers from Pooeryn towards Paranthan along the Pooneryn-Paranthan road. If these reports are accurate, the threat to Jaffna has now been considerably reduced.

Tigers would have to recalculate their arti trajectory, acquire new targets and locations on GPS and DGPS and make new maps based on these calculations on latitudinal and longitudinal grids from areas south of Muhamalai and Kilali upto Elephant Pass or even Paranthan if they are to effectively defend against a southwards push by the 53 Division and the Mechanized Infantry. This could take weeks, even months.

For the Army, the push towards Pooneryn is a real investment for the future. If Pooneryn is captured, there is a serious possibility of the Navy operating a ferry between Sangupiddi Jetty in Pooneryn and Kerativu in Chavakachcheri. Not only will the government save money with such a move but the Army will save valuable deployment time by transporting troops by land to and from Jaffna.

Soldiers will be fresh when they get off in Jaffna or when they reach Mannar or Anuradhapura on leave. The Government may also build a bridge between the two points, which is nothing considering recent projects in the East and elsewhere including the new flyovers near Colombo and in the suburbs.

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