Thursday, May 31, 2007

Commando units move deeper into Thoppigala jungles

SLA commando units spearheading the eastern offensive advanced further into the dense jungles of Thoppigala reaching another milestone today. Advancing commandos have captured several strategic points in the region with the help of SLA light infantry, artillery and rocket regiments.

Meanwhile, military intelligence have learnt that most major LTTE leaders in the eastern province have fled to Wanni. Those who are lower in the LTTE command structure have been left to fight a battle that is seemingly impossible to win. Special Forces, Commandos and light infantry have virtually surrounded the tiger territory leaving very few escape routes for the trapped LTTE cadres.Video: Exclusive Al-Jazeera TV footage of the Thoppigala offensive. Video shows the army capture a key bridge in the area. Click here to read the full Al-Jazeera news article. 

Army's Long Range Surveillance (LRS) units operating in the northern province carried our several successful assaults on key LTTE  intelligence wing members during the past week. More details on these assaults cannot be revealed for security reasons. Increased LRS activity in the north is said to be one of the major concerns of LTTE leadership as of now.

Monday, May 28, 2007

LTTE claymore inflicts heavy civillian casualties

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) set off a claymore mine in Rathmalana wounding 4 STF personnel and 16 civillians. The target of the claymore mine is said the be an STF troop transport although its explosion in rush hours inflicted 16 civillian casualties.

Update: 2 of the wounded civillians have died. The STF transport was en route from the training base when it was attacked. There were 9 personnel on board at the time of attack.

Friday, May 25, 2007

LTTE steps up attacks against military

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) have stepped up its attacks against the military killing 11 security personnel during yesterday alone in two separate incidents. A pre dawn attack on the SLN installation in Delft killed 10 navy patrolmen and a claymore explosion targeting army transport in Pettah killed 1 soldier and wounded 6 others.

At y esterday dawn, LTTE sea tiger units made an amphibious assault on the main SLN installation in Delft. Sea tigers used a total of 18 boats including 6 suicide craft in the offensive. The initial wave caused the defending navy personnel to abandon their original positions and pull back into the island. This allowed the LTTE to capture several mounted weapons and ammunitions deployed in the FDL. The Navy was able to regain lost ground with the help of additional FACs and SLAF after a few hours. This attack could be the beginning of another attempt to capture the Jaffna peninsula which is currently held under army control. Although pro rebel media claim a SLN casualty figure of 35, DefenceNet learns that this is false. Only 10 SLN personnel have died and LTTE casualty figure cannot be verified. However the outcome of this attack can be termed as a 'moral victory' for the LTTE as most of the attackers were able to return to their base with captured weapons.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Suicide attack on army transport: Pettah

A powerful explosion ripped through Pettah when a LTTE suicide cadre rammed his motorcycle against a bus transporting army personnel. The explosion occurred in 1st cross street, Pettah. Current casualty figure stands at 5 army personnel and 1 civilian injured and this figure is expected to rise.

More information will follow.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Army makes small progress in Mannar offensive

The operation to free Madhu area from terrorists entered a new phase as the army breached the LTTE forward defence lines in few locations and advanced several kilometers into rebel territory. Army was able to gain approximately 7 square Kilometers of ground amidst heavy rebel resistance. Nearly 20 LTTE cadres have so far been killed and 6 army personnel have also perished in battle. Fighting still rages in northern FDLs.

The offensive has been ongoing for about a month now and four previous attempts by SLA to advance into LTTE territory were halted in fear of heavy casualties. Apparently the army is not looking at using brute force and outnumber the rebels as in previous operations. Instead, it is using small groups of heavily armed soldiers to soften up LTTE defences before the final push with armored divisions. These can be termed as 'hit and run' attacks where a small group of soldiers advance further from their FDL, attack a pre determined target and return back to their FDLs. These types of attacks were misinterpreted by pro LTTE media as 'repulsed offensives of SLA with high casualties".

However it is not false that the army encountered fierce rebel resistance in the offensive. The LTTE seems to have deployed their crack troops along Mannar FDLs. In contrast, SLA Special Forces are yet to enter the battlefield.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Special Forces without Prasanna de Silva?

Special Forces of SLA have fought many battles and emerged victorious in almost all of them in the Eelam War 4. At one time during the siege to Vakarai, SLA ground forces found it difficult to advance due to heavy LTTE resistance. They had succeeded in breaching 1st and 2nd LTTE forward defence lines but could not penetrate the third. In the meantime, SLA troops could observe a group of shadowy figures stealthily crossing the Vakarai lagoon. These were none other than Special Forces units preparing for an assault on the Vakarai town center. After a few minutes, 40 highly trained and heavily armed Special Forces units carried a legendary amphibious assault on Vakarai town center causing the defending LTTE units to flee in chaos. The operation lasted for mere 5 minutes but it marked the end of a successful campaign for SLA and a crushing defeat for the terrorists.

Above is a story we all know very well. But very little has been spoken about the master planner who held SF together in the Vakarai offensive; Col. Prasanna de Silva. Col Prasanna Silva is undoubtedly one of the best commanders SLA have ever had. As a result of his success, he's made it to LTTE's 'high priority' list. However Col. Silva has now resigned from the army. He was asked to deploy Special Forces units in the Northern front while the Eastern offensive (Thoppigala) was ongoing. Col. Silva saw the disadvantage in the strategy and immediately opposed the move. Unfortunately for SLA, the pressure from 'the top' was too high and ultimately caused the veteran to hand over his resignation letter.

However, timely intervention by 'the right people' has minimized the impact of the damage and has avoided what could have been catastrophic ripple effects; This certainly won't be the end of SF. The new commander [Name withheld] is capable of continuing from where Prasanna Silva left.

However, the fact remains that SLA lost 'one of its best' due to an irresponsible and unfortunate series of events. 

Notice to readers: If you know Col. Prasanna Silva's personal/family details , please refrain from revealing them in your comments. We have lost too many great personnel due to our own carelessness.

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

LTTE Camp destroyed in SLAF bombing was used to train Prabhakaran's bodyguards

Army intelligence sources have revealed that Ramanadapuram LTTE base, which was destroyed in one of the heaviest aerial bombardments of recent times, was used to train LTTE leader's bodyguard units. SLAF was able to make a precision hit on the base complex in the aerial raid which included supersonic Kfir bombers. Secondary explosions could be observed after initial bombing, which indicated that either an explosives storage or a fuel storage too was hit. (View video)

LTTE leader's bodyguards are chosen from veteran LTTE fighters who've soundly proven that 'they can be trusted'. Military intelligence has been aware of the location of the base for a while and was waiting 'for the right time' to go for the kill. LTTE casualties are not yet known.

It was only last week the rebels claimed that they had a 'self activating defence system' installed in Iranamadu area which could shoot down enemy aircraft automatically. They also claimed that they shot down a SLAF MiG27 jet fighter using this system. Ramanadapuram LTTE camp too is located in Iranamadu area.

Monday, May 7, 2007

SLA faces heavy resistance in Mannar offensive

Heavy battles broke out in the northern FDL when LTTE resisted a ground troop movement by SLA to neutralize rebel mortar positions. Rebels have been firing 120MM mortars on the army forward defence line and on the Muhamalai entry exit point from this area.

Soldiers of the 57th division have been engaged in the offensive for nearly 2 weeks. At one point, the operation was temporary halted due to tiger resistance. However, pro rebel media claims about repulsed offensives are not true; the offensive has not entirely been repulsed and is still ongoing. But it has not been a success as government media claim either. SLA was able to break the FDLs and move their special infantry units beyond the enemy lines on some occasions but later had to return to their original positions due to stiff tiger resistance and strategic reasons. However, SLA has not been able to meet the goal of destroying all nearby mortar positions.

Sunday, May 6, 2007

SLAF bombs Mullaithiv, plans to buy MiG29s for air defence

After a five day silence, the Sri Lanka Air Force bombers took off from the KAB on Saturday to bomb rebel held Mullaithiv region. Many pro rebel LTTE media justified the 5 days silence of SLAF as proof of the LTTE's claim of shooting down a Kfir (later MiG27) last week. However, DefenceNet learns that bad weather and strategic reasons were behind the silence of SLAF during the last five days.

Meanwhile, with four failed attempts to gun down LTTE's aircraft which managed to successfully evade after conducting partially successful bombing runs on KAB, Palaly Military base and Colombo HSZ, the SLAF is now looking at the possibility of buying at least two MiG29 jet fighters for air superiority role.

Picture - A MiG29 Fighter jet firing AA missile

MiG29 is a highly advanced combat aircraft which is both capable of air to ground and air to air role. The most common MiG29 variant has the following specifications.

Primary Function: Multi-role fighter

Contractor: Mikoyan-Gurevich

Crew: One

Powerplant: Two Klimov/Sarkisov RD-33 turbofans at 18,298 afterburning pounds of thrust each

Length: 56 feet and 10 inches

Wingspan: 37 feet and 3.25 inches

Height: 15 feet and 6.2 inches

Weights: Empty: 24,030 pounds Maximum Takeoff: 40,785 lb (18500 kg)

Speed: Mach 2.3 (1,520 mph)

Ceiling: 55,775 ft (17000 m)

Range: 932 miles (810 nm / 1500 km) with internal fuel

Armament

  • One 30mm GSh-301 cannon with 150 rounds
  • Six AAMs including a mix of SARH and AA-8 Aphid (R60)
  • AA-10 Alamo (R27T), AA-11 Archer
  • R73
  • FAB 500-M62
  • FAB-1000
  • TN-100
  • ECM Pods
  • S-24
  • AS-12
  • AS-14

Saturday, May 5, 2007

Captain Nilam Missing

Captain Nilam, the previous leader of SLA deep penetration unit (codename 'Mahasohon Brigade') has gone missing in Indonesia. His family members are also reported to be missing. We cannot confirm whether he was kidnapped by LTTE supporters or whether he went into hiding.

Captain Nilam was working against the LTTE arms trafficking network in Indonesia and his protection was ensured by Mgr Gen Janaka Perera who was the Srilankan ambassador in Indonesia. It is most likely that Captain Nilam went into hiding knowing that LTTE cadres will attempt to assassinate him after the removal of Janaka Perera as ambassador 2 weeks ago.

Captain Nilam who was assigned to the Military Intelligence Corps, lead many successful DPU operations against the LTTE including the assassination of Shankar, Prabhakaran's right hand man.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

TMVP prepares to attack Thoppigala

TMVP, lead by LTTE's renegade commander Karuna, is planning a massive attack on LTTE forward defence lines in Thoppigala. Sri Lankan Army (SLA) also launched a massive operation to capture the last major rebel base in the eastern province nearly one month ago. The progress of the operation has been hampered by bad weather. However, armed forces have marched forward without any severe resistance from LTTE and have cornered the rebels in a 120 square KM jungle area in Thoppigala.

Meanwhile Karuna is said to be giving special training to 500 of its cadres in TMVP training bases. Their objective will be to break the LTTE FDL in Thoppigala and trigger a mass surrendering. However, it must be said that SL armed forced and Karuna faction operations are not coordinated attacks and are independent of each other.

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

No Kfir or MiG was shot

It was only yesterday that pro LTTE media and Eelamists celebrated the shooting down of a SLAF supersonic jet bomber. However, DefenceNet can confirm that no fighter aircraft of SALF were neither lost nor damaged due to enemy fire or due to technical failure.

However at attempt to shoot down the jet was made by LTTE gunners. We cannot confirm the type of AA weapons used but the pilot was able to out maneuver the 'foreign object'  and LTTE did not acquire their target.