Friday, June 8, 2007

Massive airstrike on Kilinochchi LTTE base complex

Bombers of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) 10th fighter squadron carried out two bombing sorties on identified LTTE targets in the Kilinochchi  district today. Each bombing raid involved 5 supersonic bombers from SLAF's jet bomber fleet. LTTE's airstrip at Iranamadu was among the targets that were hit.

Meanwhile clashes still continued near the Vavuniya FDLs where LTTE launched a major offensive to recapture territory few days ago. SLA defended the multi pronged LTTE offensive at two fronts and pulled back from one front to minimize casualties. During the last two days, SLA's ground troops advanced further from their FDLs at defended battlefronts to engage in combat with LTTE units scattered there. Some small attack groups of SLA have ventured as much as 2km into previously LTTE territory. However the LTTE still holds the Mullikulama area which they captured when 57th division pulled back from their FDL.

18 comments:

  1. Looks like the Armed Forces are planning for a ground Offensive in the North.

    An Appeal to all bloggers, please keep non defence related issues including your personel frustrations out of this blog. There is alot of out of context debates which makes the blog lose its focus and there are many other places where you can debate such issues.

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  2. defencenet any comments on this article?

    http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/06/08/opinion/02.asp

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  3. I believe an LTTE ariel attack somewhere in the North is imminent.

    This could come with a ground or Naval offensive into Jaffna.

    The massive haul of C4 and their Vauynia attack last week, could repeat once again with a different combination.Looks like they want to take several targets at the same time.

    The C4 explosion would have been a super massive one...

    Lets hope, nothing like that will happen.

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  4. Ok now I'm getting confused, the Daily mirror claims SF recaptured the two vehicles, but now the government newspaper is saying it was severly damaged and so the LTTE never captured it...but then how did the SF capture it either (since it is claimed to be toppled over and damaged).

    Anyway I think one buffel is minor for either side, but just shows the lack of credibility in reporting of these stories..what is the truth? Anyone's guess it seems!

    http://www.dailynews.lk/2007/06/08/fea02.asp

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  5. jack,
    Yes the Buffel was retaken by SF. Normally, Buffels do not blow up into a flaming wreckage due to one RPG hit. Army engineering corps who create them in SL do a better job than that. The buffel's body was intact although its mechanical systems were crippled by enemy fire. SF was able to recapture it just like the LTTE capture it few days ago.

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  6. hello jack i am reading your article

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  7. I don't get it how come the picture in the tamilnet website is spotless and the dailynews article claims that it was involved in an RPG so there should be some sort of damage on the vehicle.
    The same article goes on to infer that the pic from tamilnet is not actually one used by the army?? The thing looks spotless, how did the LTTE get a hold of the buffel in question?

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  8. Check out the vid:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReN5FEn0qxc

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  9. Sunil jayasiri says basically the same thing as the better article in the daily mirror. the whole idea of this operation was to advance upto the artillary position (pompemadu-hence the large no of tiger vehicles to trasport cadres deep into the FDL) and hopefully capture the guns and ammo and then aim the guns at the other areas to create maximum chaos which didnt happen given the bravery of our troops.I am not sure how many dead the LTTEs took away with them.I am also not sure if most of the casualties were due to the air strikes and not due to hand to hand combat and MBRL.I am no military man but i thibk the LTTE casualty count is very conservative.our troops fell back-like field marshall-the LTTEs field marshall erwin rommel-general illantharathan?? or who ever says...then the tigers advanced to caputure land (big mistake)then the air force acted to kill as many tiger cadres as possible. His conclusion is right-dont take land send small parties of crack commandos to kill as many terrs as possible

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  10. they probably wanted to aim the guns at thoppiagala to kill as many troops as possible to give those trapped in thoppiagala a fighting chance

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  11. I think the LTTE built the Irnamadu strip just so that the SLDF would assume the tiger aircraft are taking off from there and bomb it; all they have to do is keep levelling the bomb craters so it gives the appearance of a strip ready for use.

    The aircraft they possess can easily take off and land from a road because of there size.

    For example to swiss actually use the road networks in their country as runways and any tunnels in the network can be doubled up as hangers during times of war!

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  12. kanishka i watched that article..i am really honoured that we have such brave soldiers.

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  13. what has happened to these terrs are that they think the army is the same as it was in 1983.they cannot understand that they are fighting with people born probably in 1983 who have a completely different perception of "things"

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  14. From the web..
    This article says, Dozen howitzers were distroyed.

    Defencenet,
    Pleas elaborate us on this.



    [June 4, 2007: Over the weekend, there was heavy fighting in the north. It began with a large exchange of artillery and mortar fire, plus air force bombing attacks. The LTTE then launched commando style attacks at army artillery positions, leading to heavy fighting for those guns and ammo supplies. Nearly a hundred soldiers and LTTE were killed, and up to a dozen howitzers were destroyed. The army has been expecting such raids, which were a regular feature of LTTE operations in the past. But the LTTE contains a much higher proportion of conscripts and kidnapped teenagers, than in the past. The experienced fighters have been distributed among all these less reliable fighters, making it difficult to put together the thousands of commandos, as in the past. The LTTE only staged this one raid, through the thinly manned "front lines" that separate LTTE and army forces in the north. It's likely that the LTTE doesn't have the qualified manpower to do any more than that. June 3, 2007: India has agreed to coordinate patrols in the straits between India and Sri Lanka. This will make it more difficult for the LTTE to smuggle weapons from India. Meanwhile, in the capital, two Red Cross workers were seized and later killed by men who claimed to be policemen. The government denied that any of their police were involved. June 2, 2007: Fighting continues in the east, as small groups of LTTE fighters continue to resist. The military believes that at least a few hundred LTTE fighters in the east will never surrender, and will fight to the death. June 1, 2007: Australia is preparing to ban the LTTE, which would shut down one of the major sources of cash for the LTTE. That, combined with losses from similar bans in Europe and North America, have cut LTTE income by more than half. Meanwhile, Tamils in Sri Lanka are increasingly trying to get out. The bitterness caused by two decades of rebellion and terrorism have made relations with the native Sinhalese majority even more poisonous. While the Sinhalese have always treated the Tamils as unwelcome foreigners, the Tamil terror campaign simply made the original antagonism worse. This war will not end well for the Tamils. May 30, 2007: The LTTE has been launching terror attacks against civilians in the south. The government believes this is an attempt to somehow draw military forces away from the north, where the last LTTE stronghold is in great danger.

    ]

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  15. tangara,
    The only artillery gun destroyed in battle was an 130mm battery. That too was damaged due to LTTE long range fire. Truth is, LTTE ground troops never reached pompaimadu base to carry out a commando raid.

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  16. "The buffel's body was intact although its mechanical systems were crippled by enemy fire. SF was able to recapture it just like the LTTE capture it few days ago."

    By God these things are built tough! Thanks defencenet, you've made my day! Viva SF!


    :)

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  17. jiffy,
    Buffels can even survive a medium sized landmine explosion. Most important thing is that these are made in Srilanka.

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  18. "they probably wanted to aim the guns at thoppiagala"

    I think Thoppi might be slightly out of range:)

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