Tuesday, June 12, 2007

LTTE prepares for final battle in Thoppigala

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) commando units advanced from multiple fronts and overran at least four LTTE bases in the Thoppigala area last week. A multi pronged thrust from SLA commando units caused the LTTE to vacate their positions in Narakamulla area and retreat further towards the Thoppigala mountain. 2 soldiers were killed and 17 others were injured. Nearly 30 LTTE cadres were KIA and an unknown number were wounded. SLA was able to retrieve 8 LTTE bodies scattered near the newly captured FDL.

It is now learnt by military intelligence that LTTE cadres are digging new trenches around their main bases in Thoppigala. Even though the trapped LTTE cadres have pleaded with Wanni leadership for evac, they have been ordered to remain and defend Thoppigala. The main reason for evac request seems to be the lack of supplies; LTTE cadres in the area are facing a severe food shortage. LTTE lost its sea based supply route from Wanni to East when the army captured main LTTE bases in the coastal area during the Vakarai offensive. However, there is a high possibility of more fierce battles erupting in the area as LTTE builds its defenses and as army opens up new fronts in the battle for Thoppigala.

64 comments:

  1. I think we must use as much as artillery, mortar and MBRL + air strikes before we get in to Toppigala base.
    This will minimize SL army casualty and cause heavy damages to the terrorist.

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  2. Yes Hasalaka,

    Hope SLA will never repeat Muhamalee debacle..

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  3. All the forum members,

    Anyone knows/cares what happened to those 22 SLA men in Vavunia.?Were they captured??
    Most probably they are being torchered by the LTTE before fielding them as human shields..?

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  4. No to using MBRL.Need to conserve for jaffna battles to come.Least damage must be done to thoppigala since large herd of elephants there
    Muhamalai was not a debarcle.The army drew the ltters outand preempted them after an ltte build up which they did not repeat in vakarai-this time they waited for them .So now have an idea of the defenses.Could have however limited casualties by a more limited operation which was not the intention.

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  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. SLA should soften up Thoppi with the nearly 1400 mortar shells it captured from the LTTE over the past two days. Great going...ouch, that hurts I bet...to those LTTE supporters in the West who doled out money to the LTTE to find that now their hard earned money is actually being put to good use to pulverize the very LTTE!

    Wicked...simply wicked...and that's why I love it!

    OaO Asithri

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  7. See this news??

    http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?
    fname=20070613_01

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  8. Thoppi should be taken with the least amount of ammo as possible.the army will need it when the war for jaffna begins.The ideal situation will be for most ltters in thoppi to surrender to the army as they are good sources of the current situation in wanni.I dont know if these munitions discovered can be used with our mortars/guns.May be extremely dangerous given the condition of these munitions.
    Digressing slightly,
    DR howells comments about this ltte ban in the UK is nonsense.the ltte is only banned on papaer since their financial activities remain unchanged.

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  9. DR howell is doing exactly what praba is thinking.that is if he can hold onto the vanni for long enough the international community will start to treat it as a seperate country. Ok this "international community" for the ltte is the corrupt govt ministers in those countries.For SL this "international community" is some white f*t B**ch sitting in an office waiting till its 1700 to go home to her family.

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  10. Sri Lanka,
    stil Col.Prasanna De Silva out of the command of SF?
    I wander wot really happend to him.
    I think a battle like this we have to test new strategies for that can help forth coming great battles.

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  11. Hello Patriot-im not a military man.Col Prasanna de silva (i dont know what happened to him) is an incredibly brave man!!!.The point is that the govt does not want a lot of casualties.Lot of casualties are -bad for the soldiers families-bad for recruitment (you cannot tel a new recruit that his chances of coming out alive are say 10% at the end of this)-And we need a lot of well trained troops to ensure that the development in the east continues-not casualties-what we need is a lot of soldiers without buying very expensive machinary like the past so people can get commissions-ie employment of a lot of people-if you see the defense spending most of it is on small weapons for theinfantry.The good col is "one in a million" because he could have not advanced so much into ltte area and capture land but he did not want land-he really wanted to fight and kill as many LTTE as he can

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  12. MLBR
    here one of the links
    these systems are very powerfull and accurate.
    i was thinking this too why our navy,air force are reluctent to use CIWS and missile systems that are so effecient,
    and i have another questions that MIG 27s have 30mm gatlin that can fire more than 4500 rounds per min and i have never heard that the gadjet have been used ever

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close-in_weapon_system

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  13. mbrl, its time we got fire control radar for these cannons. i once read that the SLN has something called the "typhoon", a gun mount that allows for independent fire control (which i assume is the same as automated target tracking?). maybe someone here could set me straight. in the aljezeera vid they were saying the ltte suicide boats could evade radar, so how would useful would a automated system really be in that case?

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  14. Hello MBRL-good defense systems are wonderful.But im sure they are prohibitivly expensive. these ltte are waiting for a chance to destroy ships with these systems and drain govt resources.Believe that whatever system is used ships will get destroyed cannot help that.That program about the sea tigers was devastating and bone chilling.Also the heavier the boat(FAC?)the lesser the chance of it surviving an attack.I am praying hard for the navy!!.What we really need is good intelligence about the location of these boats so the aircraft can literally burn them. Alternatively we need more FACs'so that more complex battle strategies can be formmlated-this is a japaneses kamikaze attack. I think we are going to see a tactic by the ltte where a few surface boats are simply used to ensure a large number of suicide boats reach their target.

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  15. so when the navy is trying to destroy a few surface ships they are innundated with a large number of suicide boats

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  16. Patriot, both the Phalanx radar guided gun system and the Rolling airframe missiles were specifically developed to protect naval vessels against sea skimming anti-ship missiles and cruise missiles. They are VERY expensive systems.

    If you are asking whether the SLN can install these systems on their ships, then there is only two ships capable of handling systems like this with extensive system upgrades and that is Sayura (from India) and the two SAAR 4 missile boats (from Israel). But considering the cost involved it will be a HUGE WASTE of money!

    Someone in the blog mentioned the Typhoon G gun mount found on the Dvora and Shaldag FACs of the SLN. Now these mounts can be upgraded to house the Spike-ER missile system combined with a 20mm/30mm cannon. This I think will be a better investment because if we buy the missiles for the navy then we can buy them in bulk so that the SLAF Mi-24/35 can be upgraded to use the same missile to counter aerial threats.

    The only land based phalanx like radar guided gun system has been developed by the chinese (LD-2000) although the US and Israeli's also have truck mounted versions.

    You have to match the countermeasure against the level of perceived threat. Sri Lanka is not going to war with India, with the 3rd largest airforce in the world, but against a fledgling air arm of an insurgent group armed with nothing more than a modified crop duster.

    There was a recent report by al-jazeera on the air defences of the Katunayaka airport. In that video the air force showed what looked like Bofors 40mm/70mm guns networked to a radar/FLIR system which is more than enough unless the LTTE manages to get jet aircraft!

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  17. Has anyone seen these small sea skimming boats at tourist resorts. I mean these "motorbikes on the sea".they can be modified to take 2 people one with a bazooka or something. then high casualties are very likely.

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  18. kanishka,
    so do the typhoons come with a FLIR sensor? i presume that's how they sight/track targets? in the vid i think they mentioned something about this..

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  19. Btw guy's does anyone know in the Al jazeera vid of the SLN is it showcasing the Dvora Mk II or is it the Mk III at the start of the vid?

    jiffy, yes the electro-optical system is usually integrated into the gun mount itself. Check out this site:

    http://www.israeli-weapons.com/index.html

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  20. Does anybody know more info on the (breaking) news broadcasted by Sirasa TV at last night (10 pm)?

    It is about a LTTE plan to attack Colombo harbour and several other places to make a massive damage.

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  21. The FAC on Al Jazeera are Colombo Class built at Colombo Dockyard. I believe 22 were ordered. But,FAC on Jazeera doesnt carry ELOPS Fire control system, do ya know why ?So far Shaldag's & Newer Dvora's carry ELOPS Firecontrol.Whatever happened to the SLN 5 Trinity Marine FAC ? TKS.

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  22. Hi Everyone,
    check this link
    http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/06/13/news/02.asp

    i thought the MBLR was repaired by check guys but

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  23. Nice articel-DR Munindradasa was an expert-with the scant info in the article- a "REAL EXPERT" in every sense of the word and not any so called "expert" who could not apply what he learned in real life situations. Now is the time for more of our boys to do a degree in "electronics and telecommuniation" engineering. Off hand it is fascinating!!,....We desperatly need more of Dr Munindradasa!!

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  24. "He had been with the defence ministry since 1990 and during President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s regime he effected the saving of a large sum of public monies when he repaired some Multi-Barrel Rocket Launchers (MBRL), which were about to be sent abroad for repairs."

    rip comrade.

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  25. Considering that thankfully it is bit quiet on the fronts at the moment I thought we could have a discussion about a couple of things that the army may invest in.

    It would be good to hear from the memebers on their thoughts about the role of the Main Battle Tank (MBT) in the Sri Lankan conflict. Is it worthwhile to invest in a tank battalion?

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  26. Hello Mate!.
    Heard about white elephants?

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  27. This death is suspicious.

    I am sorry to say this but those Tamil Students in the Moratuwa campus should be under covert surveillance. While they study with the Govt's monies they are supportive of the LTTE and separatism. And I have heard that they are upto mischief as well.

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  28. Hello KIri -At a guess i think they just want to get an education without being drawn into politics..

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  29. Hey defencenet what is this news about LTTE master plan to demolish colombo city an open Jaffna fronts.please give us more information about this development.i was telling my collegues who were criticising government over the lodge issue that there must be a valid reason behind that sudden and bold decision.now i think it is clear why they were so worried about LTTE operatives in colombo.

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  30. KEY is INTELLIGENCE:speaking about ltte operatives in colombo..one of our biggest problems is that Ltte Tamils know some sinhala but us sinhalese know very little tamil.I am sure these guys discuss their plans in these "thosai kadai"s butif the general population knew a bit of tamil what an intelligent asset they would be.fx a very long time ago bfore that bomb went off in the bank which killed 100s near the main post office in fort?..some ltter told the tamils not to come the next day or something along those lines

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  31. fx a sihalese man hearing a telephone conversation.. or harmless conversation on a bus etc

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  32. c this images ..

    http://www.pathivu.com/news2/admin/data/upimages/3rdarmy1.gif

    http://www.pathivu.com/news2/admin/data/upimages/3rdarmy2.gif

    http://www.pathivu.com/news2/admin/data/upimages/3rdarmy3.gif

    i got this images frm one pro-LTTE website. but i couldnt understand d artical. itz full of tamil. lol :)
    do anyone have idea abt this images?

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  33. That's a great find their don. It would be great if someone in the blog could translate the article from pathivu.

    http://www.pathivu.com/index.php?subaction=showfull&id=1181765789&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1&

    How did pathivu get a hold of those pictures? It don't think I have seen in the army website. This is scary!!!

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  34. Don/Kanishka,

    No great mystery about those pics. Those are from the recent 3rd Mechanized Infantry Battalion passing out ceremony as contained in our own GOSL Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) at:

    http://www.rnhit.com/mcns/fullnews.php?id=6217

    Our dudes sure look a mean lot and any LTTE scummie looking at these pics will feel the urge to pee!

    :)) :)) :))

    OaO Asithri

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  35. Don/Kanishka,

    It says same what Nationalsecurity tells.
    It say this is a newly introduced Unit and all..

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  36. I really wish they'd get over this bandana & motorcycle gloves thing. I mean, fine, wear the bloody bandanas in the jungle if you wanna, but on parade? They look like a bunch of fucking Arabs. And what the hell do you need shooting gloves on parade for?

    Sri Lankan, the wives tale about Tamils being told to stay away on the day of the CBSL attack is utter rubbish. I personally know several Tamils who were killed or injured on that day. For example, David Thiagaraja, the head of Mercantile Global Travels (who was killed) was Tamil.

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  37. The pics show the new recruits of Mechanized Infantry Division (a part of 53rd) passing out. We will see more of these soldiers in the upcoming battles.

    Yes there was (and maybe still is) an LTTE plan to hit several targets in Colombo. SLA is still looking for a suicide truck with 1000kg explosives which is supposed to be in western province.

    MI got to know of it early but that doesnt mean such attacks will never happen. LTTE is always planning destruction. Constant vigilance is required to keep them at bay.

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  38. Hello David Blacker. Thanks for that info. Istand corrected....F**K**G ARABS ! LOL thats a nice one.

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  39. Defencenet do you know if divers check lagoons etc in captured areas.If guns were buried it stands to reason that these suicide boats could be submerged in these lagoons awaiting use

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  40. Dunno about divers, SL, but they definitely found at least one suicide boat submerged in a lagoon after the Vakarai battle.

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  41. Hi All,
    I don’t know this sort of things are already using in here.

    air force can use flights that can high altitude with very powerful infrared cameras and high level surveillance cameras that might help us to do the job of satellites. Then it would make easy to find the targets like gatherings of tigers and firing Arties etc.
    ??
    I mostly agreed with Kanishka.. That we need more intel works here in Sri lanka soil with the highest technology that we can get.
    And it's more important to seek and destroy all the traitors specially sinhala, people like Udugampola and the responsible Heads for traiting hero’s are still free ,those are not good samples.
    Our military had already destroyed this ltte long ago, unless those traitors. So in that case everyone is a suspect

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  42. Hello patriot-Hopefuly once the President sorts out the LTTE he will look at individuals.This is what scares certain people in high places.For them the war is just another money making mechanism.I am not speaking about the average guy who is compelled to take a bribe to ensure the well being of his family.

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  43. digressing...the president also needs a booming economy to absorb the "army".They need to know there are plenty of jobs waiting for them when this is over after free training at govt expense. So it is in their interest to finish this off as quickly as possible.

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  44. MI should never be disbanded and sL should maintain a resonable force to maintain law and order.The army should be trained in "foreign" institutions...say sandhurst etc.

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  45. Sri Lankan,
    But we have to eliminate all the possible threats right?
    U said Prasanna De Silva is a great asset, similar thing had happened in USA person called Richard Mercinko who's the founder of NAVY SEALs team Six special counter terrorist unit,
    He performed well and due to his assessments lots of vulnerabilities had been found, that made him to leave the Navy finally.
    Important thing, now he's available for consulting, i don’t know the stories are true but the Mercinko has involved in many cases writing books, knives designing, computer game designing, security consulting and even as a consulter for the Famous TV series 24

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  46. Patriot, Richard Marcinko was kicked out of the US Navy for embezzling funds. In other words, he used monies allocated for Seal Team 6 for private use.

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  47. Yes we have to eliminate all threats.As i said before my knowledge of military matters is very rusty.This is what i believe...Even if the war is won militaryly the LTTE will never be destroyed.But it can be dstroyed only in peace time. This is because the MAIN ltte brains are not praba and this Effing barber.the purpose of this military campaign is only to buy as much time as possible because every cause needs both military people (where praba comes into the pic)and "political" people (large number of rich tamils who are engaged in dinning politicians. (assume every human being has a certain degree of crookedness-the crookedness is relative between 2 people).To destroy this LTTE BULLSHIT completely we need sinhalese people who are in comparable situations to those rich tamils. (other than some clowns in SL embassies-i dont believe in most of them because their primary purpose is to educate their kids abroad-who can blame them really).But in peace time we have to safeguard the rights of ALL OUR CITIZENS.Our saviours-1)EDUCATION: Ensuring that lots of our sinhala boys get the opportunity to study abroad and broaden their horizons-( see the deals the president has made with US universities).2)UNITY among our poeple-if your friend is doing better than you in life help him to do better and dont destroy his chances-in the scheme of things this will help you eventually-remember we have 2512 yrs of civilisation).

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  48. As for Mr Prasanna De Silva's services we need him badly but not right now.Next objective is secureing east and developing it with the rest of the country while keeping a lid on the LTTE. This human rights propaganda is useless if the east is developed and the people have a decent standard of living right?. This is why this fellow Vp ha s despatched people to destabilise the east..SEE how much developing the east is worrying him?

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  49. One thing more-in my books i dont care if a politician has got rich in ways that are not strictly legal-PROVIDED HE HAS NOT RESORTED TO MURDER! and a few other limitations like squandering our foreign currency reserves.BUT HE SHOULD DO THE JOB FOR WHICH HE IS APPOINTED BY THE PEOPLE.

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  50. Marcinko's case i think should be a fake.
    he has some profile
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Marcinko

    as i know he's a legend among Navy Seals and and when this case occurs he was working in the ReCell.
    Ya Sri Lankan i feel the sameway.
    coz he's educating his kids and there are secondary level that LTTE is transforming into under pirabhaharan's authority. after this battle there should be some other sources that the everything handed over

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  51. This is from that article in Wikipedia, Patriot:

    "Marcinko served time in federal prison under charges of defrauding the government over the price of contractor acquisitions for hand grenades. Marcinko maintains that he was the subject of a witch hunt; his detractors claim that he was able to beat any other charges with support from powerful governmental figures, as well as underhanded legal tactics.Marcinko details his arrest and confinement in the last chapters of his autobiography."

    It's extremely difficult to frame someone for fraud or embezzelment in the US.

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  52. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  53. A Scientist who loved his country - Dr. Amith Munindradasa

    http://www.netdukes.com/article.pdf

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  54. outof context here-but is there any chance of Vp,Suppiah being indicted as war criminals in the hague?

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  55. David B

    Dude, I personally don't think the bandana and the shooting glove at the passing out parade is out of place. After all, each military unit has worn their battle attire /regalia since there were armies on this planet and I don't see what the freaking fuss is about...for example, just because the Navy boyz wear white gloves at the passing out parade, we know they may not wear the same white gloves in the awesome Dvoras when going for action to pulverize the LTTE "sea guppies"...our boyz in the pics may look like "fucking Arabs" (as you said) with the bandanas, but provided they don't look like "fcuking LTTE bata-slippered-sarong brigade," I think we are OK. As such, here they look menacing...not like a bunch of sissy-pussies that LTTE scum create with their baby-brigades. LMSSAO!

    :)) :)) :))

    OaO Asithri

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  56. They look like a bunch of battle hardened worriers ready to go to battle. Their look is very demanding and I feel proud them.(LTTE sarong and bata slipper baby brigade ... good point he he he....)
    Anyway hope that these guys are well trained to count the menance force by the mechansized units from lTTE victor unit(RPG dudues).Looks like they are ready.
    I would like to know more about the uniformas and the basic eqipment that the different SL units use compared with LTTE's different units.(FOr this lets forget terrorits waering sarongs...LOL..)

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  57. The biggest problems in taking wanni are going to be
    1)the human shield
    2)you are going to find LTTE suicide bombers jumping from every tree at you-let alone the mines
    now bombing them is pointless unless you can kill every LTTE cadre while at the same time saving the population. Taking cities require ground forces and very high casualties.

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  58. vp (given his stallinist approach) is going to
    1)place obstacles on the road
    2)send suicide bombers in vehicles to ram motorised columns
    3)mine all buildings in the area and explode them
    4)line people up in rows in front of his gun positions

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  59. This is a request for help from the fellow blog members. Could someone id the APC in this pic and is it by any chance in service with the SLA?

    http://img511.imageshack.us/my.php?image=buffelapcid2.jpg

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  60. It's Alvis Saracen. According to the army-guide.com SLA owns 30 of them. If anyone interested with SLA inventory, can hop into the Sri Lanka Army Wikipedia article which contains much more comprehensive info than other internet sources.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvis_Saracen
    http://www.army-guide.com/eng/product588.html
    http://www.armyrecognition.com/europe/Angleterre/vehicules_a_roues/Saracen/Saracen_Angleterre_description.htm
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka_Army

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  61. Why do the terrorists wear sarongs in battle? I once saw a picture where they carry either a body or a wounded laid inside the sarong and lifted with a pole also put through the sarong.

    Looked like a very efficient method carry your wounded and the dead..

    May be SL forces could adopt something similar.. but not wear sarongs..

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  62. Does the SLDF offer a service type where one could enlist in one of the forces and offer their services for may be one year and then be released and no dues there after?

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  63. I think tamilnet.com is blocked from the SLT servers. When traceroot function performed it stops from the SLT IP.

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  64. Athsiri, my point is bandanas, etc, are just stuff worn in combat. They're not uniform pieces. For instance, you won't see Armoured Corps troops on parade wearing their leather helmets or overalls. It's the same reason infantrymen don't wear fatigues or jungle boots on parade. When the Brit SAS go on parade they wear dress uniforms, not camouflage or Arab headress or cam cream. It's unprofessional.

    Wouldn't you find it silly if soldiers on parade started wearing ghillie suits, or having leaaves and branches sewn into their clothes like they do in combat? Or if Navy SBS came on paraade wearing flippers???

    What you wear in combat is for effectivity. What you wear on parade is for effect.

    I remember in the early '90s, the Sinha Regiment OR Mess wouldn't allow soldiers to wear camouflage fatigues at meals.

    And, my friend, I'm old enough to have seen that "fcuking LTTE bata-slippered-sarong brigade," overrun a battle-hardened SLA FDL. What they wear in combat doesn't matter a bit if they can fight -- and the Tigers I fought could fight.

    MBRL, those guys aren't baattle-hardened, they're green-as-grass recruits fresh out of training.

    The only Tigers who wear sarongs are the ones in Army-occupied areas where they're trying to pass off as civilians. We never saw any of those at EPS.

    BTW, the Army troops that retook many of the overrun camps in June '90 fought in slippers, shorts, and yes-- sarongs. You can wear a fucking amude in combat if you like, as long as you fight like a soldier.

    But on parade you look like a soldier -- not like a fucking Arab goatherd.

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