Special Forces does it again

The details of a pretty elaborate plan to take-out the Radar by the LTTE has come to light thanks to a team of vigilant Sri Lanka Army Special Forces. The plan had three components. The first was a ground infiltration followed by Artillery fire topped-off by an aerial bombing by Zlin 143s to demoralize troops.

The first plan to infiltrate the SLAF base was given to a team of 12 Black Tigers who were to infiltrate the Army line from the side of the Irattaperiyakulam Jungle. Once the team breached the Army line, they were to move stealthily across to the SLAF base dressed as SLAF personnel. Then the signal was to be given to fire artillery and the planes would take off from an undisclosed location in Mulaithivu.

By the time the planes reach Vavuniya, all eyes will be on them and the Black Tigers would have plenty of time to destroy the radar station before the air-raid was over, thus effectively destroying the capability to detect any flying intruders from Mannar to Weli Oya.

Unfortunately for the LTTE a Team of Special Forces were on to it. The team detected the LTTE intrusion but remained calm, observing their every move. The Special Forces allowed the Tigers to creep in through the SLA defence-line but gradually encircled them without their knowledge. Once the intrusion went ahead unchallenged, the Tigers had called in the Zlins and the operation was on.

Unfortunately, the operation was over as soon as it had started. The Special Forces swung into action at the most opportune time killing all 12 members of the team but the Artillery fire had killed 12 soldiers from the regular forces and one member of the police and injured a few airmen.

The elaborate plan to fire artillery soon fell into disarray. 80 shells were fired by Tigers from inside the jungles but the WLR systems homed in on the battery destroying at least one canon.

Further pleasant news awaited the Security Forces. The Radar system was still in tact. Contrary to initial reports, the Radar station was able to track the planes before they descended and an F-7 managed to down one with a single missile shot.

Zlins target Indra II Radar

Indra II low-level Doppler Radar by Electronics Research and Development Establishment (LRDE) and Bharat Electronics

It is now reliably learnt that the Zlin 143s that attacked the SLAF base at Vavuniya had targeted the Indra II Radar system at the airbase, which had successfully detected them on three separate occasions to date.

Reports indicated that the radar system was slightly damaged after a bomb fell close to it. Two Indian nationals operating the radar system were injured in the blast.

Late last night a team of Tigers who had infiltrated Vavuniya government held area to the south of the SLAF and Army base at Vavuniya from jungles in the Irattaperiyakulam area were engaged by the Army. The SLAF base and the Vavuniya SF HQ lay side by side and is divided only by a fence.

9 dead bodies of Tigers have been recovered so far. The team had given arti-correction coordinates for LTTE 120mm canons before being detected and attacked.

Zlin goes down in a ball of fire

Two Zlin 143 planes that came to attack the Vavuniya Air Force Headquarters, having managed to avoid anti-aircraft guns unloaded its cargo of gravity bombs mostly outside the base around 3.45am today. A 2D Radar system in Vavuniya picked up their approach and had conveyed it to SLAF fighter jets by this time.

F-7 Fighters and others on standby scrambled into the morning sky immediately. The SLAF aircraft managed to track down one of the Zlins over Mulaitivu District, and engaged it with gun fire and missiles. The aircraft caught fire and went down in a ball of fire into an area ahead of the SLDF 59 Division FDL.

The Army knows this location and Air Force sources indicated there could be some actual footage of the crash. It was too early to verify these claims.

The Tigers had thought they had set the stage for a surprise aerial attack but had given it away in a sudden unexpected 120mm attack on the Vavuniya FDL last night. 6 soldiers were killed and another 6 were inured in the attack.

BREAKING NEWS-LTTE plane downed

LTTE plane shot down following an attempted bombing of Vavuniya SLAF HQ. The plane has crashed into Mullaitivu.

await further details

More trenches as LTTE digs in for final battle

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.

The face of things to come

The pro-LTTE media, quite understandably is excited that the LTTE has stopped running and started defending their positions although the Army too is not unhappy about this new development. The SLA understands the difference between defense and offense, having mastered the former with minimum success and now mastering the latter with great success.

Around 55 soldiers have laid down their lives in fighting at Nachchikuda, Vannerikulam etc in the past few days. These are the true figures. Government media reports the figure low while pro-LTTE media exaggerated it. Any reader with a reasonable intellect knows which is which.

The state media has to hide the fact, understandably due to politics, but the Army has no real reason for concern. A concern would arise if the LTTE annihilated an SLA garrison in a matter of few days, like in the days gone past. But those days are now long gone.

We must understand the present context in which the fighting is happening before reacting (either pessimistically or optimistically depending on which side you support). We at DefenceWire also wish to make this an opportunity to answer some email queries made by some of our more 'connected' viewers who are closely following the developments up north. We will answer each concern one-by-one in our posts, starting today.

First of all, the concern that the Army is losing more men now and that it would not be able to make it past the Nachchikuda line.

The LTTE is getting into a do-or-die situation. They are fighting closer to home than before, therefore the defence-in-depth strategy has to kick in sooner rather than later. This is not a surprise. It has certainly not surprised the Army.

Anyhow, if our wish is to save the lives of our soldiers, we must then urge the government to stop the war and justify to ourselves the continued acts of terrorism on our soil. No war is possible without the loss of lives. What is possible is to make a reasonable effort to minimize it and this includes the lives of civilians.

Let's analyze the ground realities. LTTE absolutely must guard Pooneryn. If it loses Nachchikuda, it will lose Pooneryn. Two more offensive SLA Divisions plus a mechanized infantry division are waiting to come south.

Pooneryn is also the buffer between Jaffna and Kilinochchi. It is the last remaining coastline and sea route to India for immediate logistical needs such as medicines, fuel etc. It is also the base from which the Jaffna insurgency is maintained. All will be lost if Pooneryn is lost.

The Nachchikuda FDL is crucial and the LTTE knows it. Rather than risking its cadres lives to flanking and a collapse from the rear by 8-12 man SLA teams spread throughout a large area, the Tigers have constructed a large trench-line forming a single FDL. The strategy is to increase safety in concentrated numbers. It is these numbers that the Army is also after. So the LTTE has entered into a gamble.

With the trench comes a defensive posture uncharacteristic to the LTTE. In affect, the LTTE is behaving the same way the Army did in the face of the Ceaseless Waves. It is using conventional tactics developed during World War I to fight the Army's 3rd generation warfare and unconventional tactics.

The strategy has its advantages and disadvantages. A trenchline offers the defenders the first 'shoot-to-kill' opportunity as attackers attempt to breach it at its weakest points by crossing natural or man-made obstacles. But disadvantages of the strategy were discovered over 50 years ago by the Allies. More recently, the Sri Lanka Army has learnt the same lessons many times over.

The disadvantages come with the amalgamation of all your strength into one place. This makes their location known, reduces the level of surprise etc. The level of fatigue in holding out against continuous day and night raids is high. The psychology and emotional capacity of the soldier is adversely affected at times. Rain, flooding, mud-slides and constant reconstruction of damaged lines can exhaust the manpower.

A line trench with large numbers of troops committed to is has to maintain complete control of the line at all times. If the enemy breaches the line continuously and manages to gain a foothold in a few locations, the defenders become demoralized and vulnerable.

Currently, the SLA has breached the Nachchikuda-Akkarayan LTTE FDL at 6 different locations. The LTTE has used its initial advantage against the Army and managed to spot and kill and injure 4 SLA platoons through early action with a loss of a platoon on its own side. But the defenders will not receive a reprieve. Their location is known, but the location of the raiders is always a guess.


To be continued.....

Heavy fighting. 50 SLA KIA. 120 WIA

The total SLA KIA in four days of intense fighting in Akkarayan, Vannerikulam and Murikandi rose to 50 with another 120 soldiers injured, mostly walking wounded. The worst unit affected was 4 Sinha Regiment (4SR) under Lt. Col. Ravipriya, which suffered stiff resistance at Akkarayan north.

4 SR forms part of the 571 Brigade. A total of 29 bodies were captured by the Tigers in the fighting and these displayed to junior cadres and civilians in LTTE areas as a morale booster. The Brigade Commander of 571 and Battalion Commanders remained unmoved over the incident. But the 4SR maybe out of action for a while.

The Tigers have thrown all its firepower and experienced fighters at this unit, which has performed a yeoman service by supporting 571 from Madu to Uylankulam and now Akkarayan. It seems that several small teams from 4SR failed to link-up with the main body of the 571 during the confrontation and got surrounded and bogged down further by the terrain.

A Special Forces team on an LRRP mission was also detected north of Weli Oya today but managed to return to base safely this evening. LRRP units were on the trail of a top LTTE leader when they were detected.