(Updated) The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were locked in fierce firefights near the forward defense lines of Muhamalai today. Fighting started when SLA launched a limited offensive to capture part of LTTE defence line near Muhamalai. Both parties have suffered heavy casualties in the fierce firefights that raged on for more than two hours.
Fighting started at around 5.30 am morning and lasted till 7.30 am. LTTE used group based attack teams to provoke the SLA into a limited offensive. Soldiers of the 55th division walked into a guerilla killing field, falling for the trap which was set in advance by the tigers. Even under a worst case scenario, SLA soldiers were able to overrun several highly fortified LTTE bunkers in the frontline. However these had to be left behind as the LTTE resistance forced the troops back to their starting positions within two hours.
Intermittent artillery and mortar attacks are still continuing in the area. 23 SLA soldiers have been killed and more than 125 have been injured during today's fighting. At least 20 soldiers out of the wounded will not be able to return to battlefield due to the serious nature of their wounds. Much of the SLA casualties were due to land mines and artillery strikes. LTTE too suffered heavily in the battle and armed forces observed them deploy at least five tractors to evacuate casualties. Exact number of LTTE cadres killed or injured in the incident cannot be confirmed as of yet. However reliable intelligence reports suggest that at least 65 LTTE cadres were killed in action and an unknown number were wounded in the attack.
In addition to the above the following points can now be confirmed:
- LTTE has not captured nor damaged any MBTs (Main Battle Tank) or IFVs (Infantry Fighting Vehicle) belonging to the SLA as per reports by some media.
- Several light weapons including assault rifles, ammunition, RPG rounds and around 100 Hand grenades have been captured by the tigers.
- No heavy guns of the SLA were damaged nor captured.
- All SLA units involved in the operation have now returned to original positions.
This situation resembled a similar blunder made by the army last October where 175 soldiers were killed and over 400 were injured during a failed advance towards Pallai. Although the damages received and the number of lives lost in the latest operation are significantly less than that of last year's, it is still a huge morale booster for the tigers.
DefenceNet..(when you have the time..) cant we destroy tractors taking LTTE injured by blanket mortar or artillary fire?..or is there some battle field "unofficial agreement".
ReplyDeleteDefenceNet,
ReplyDeleteHave the SLDF taken any precautions to deal with a possible infiltration by the Tigers in the Yala area?
This may be a diversionary tactic, something the Ltte was good at, especially in the past.
But we cannot take it with a pinch of salt. We have paid a heavy price in Anuradhapura, for being laid-back.
SLDF were right not to target the LTTE hirachy during the funeral, although the whole gang was there.
It is wrong to let civilians suffer deliberately and it was a thing in the past. At present, civilan casualties are kept to a minimum and we are on the winning path. There is an obvious correlation!!
Destroying tractor with dead bodies or injured rebels is not human approach. In any terms they are human beings and deserve human respect as well.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the update,
ReplyDeleteHere is another situation report...
But it is not so well written...
http://www.thebottomline.lk/2007/11/07/B33.htm
It would help greatly if we had a few MRLS with "steel rain" ability.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=8193e1a1-b592-459e-8e3d-0d5d50479801
ReplyDeletehttp://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071107/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestbaghdad
ReplyDeletepiyal i understand you..With these people they take compassion for a sign of weakness.Would you prefer these coolies to come back after they recover from their wounds and slaughter a whole village..by bashing babies against trees so their brain matter spills out.?Tell me in tissamaharama what had 3 50 yr old elderly famers done to deserve a death like that which followed?.They were killed because they could.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletepiyal when you go to sleep tonight..i want you to imagine 3 poor people saying "ane mahaththayo ane mava marranna apa ane mahaththyo..".then i want you to imagine the mentality of the person who would cut you to ribbons after hearing this..you can kill people in different ways...fx..shooting..quickest..but why this way?
ReplyDeleteThis is what I always want to emphasize to the world. Very good analysis from SL Army Commander
ReplyDeleteHe told his audience that the “Tamil terrorist organisation” in Sri Lanka claims that a certain part of the country belongs to the Tamil people whose origins are from Tamil Nadu in India where 50 million Tamils live.
“Another 50 million of Indian Tamils live in other countries, all over the world. About 2 million Tamils live in my country but half of them live abroad and other parts of the country. One million people claim a separate state in 1/3 of the country covering 2/3 of the coastal belt. Every militant group demanding a separate state cannot be accepted as liberation fighters”, he said.
http://www.thehindu.com/2007/11/07/stories/2007110763011900.htm
"armed forces observed them deploy at least five tractors to evacuate casualties"
ReplyDeleteThis is real problems to us. Why we cannot use mortar or artillery to destroy TRACTORS. Is their any unofficial agreement over their. Please explain and do not promote such bullshits things further for our forces.
Our forces are very strong and LTTE cannot escape from us.........
Hey very weak Piyal,
ReplyDeleteAre you mad man. Terrorist is terrorist. they are not doctors or others as well.
Because of poolish and very weak man like you. We are still suffer as well.
Terrorist should destroy as soon as possible man........
Piyal there are tigers who prefer to surrender but the people who killed those poor farmers are not some of them.
ReplyDeletethis is sad. this blog started being neutral and commenting for both warring parts, but now look at this. It has become another tool for boosting morale of the Sinhalese. Lying in the headline just like the other defence sites. Truly a disgrace, even Ministry of defense site has admitted 11 DEAD SLA, but this site is worse. haha pathetic, bye.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone believe in this? rofl
ReplyDelete"JAFFNA: LATEST REPORTS emanated from the LTTE confirmed 52 Tiger terrorists were killed in their bunkers when troops smashed over 20 of their bunkers in their first line of defence. Troops further advanced up to about 5 km’s interior causing more destruction to the terrorists.
Total of 11 valiant soldiers sacrificed their lives for the country and 41 soldiers injured admitted to hospital for treatments. "
http://www.army.lk/morenews.php?id=8791
DefenceNet I suggest you ban these jokers. No one wants this to become another Lankanewspapers.com.
ReplyDeleteThese idiots are trying to capture Jaffna..They think this is 1991..so predictable because that fat shit VP tells them to.he..he..he..
ReplyDelete6 SLA soldiers have been killed and more than 35 have been injured during today's fighting (casualty figures may rise).
ReplyDeleteits pathetic that VP bootlickers come here and smash the blog . Wut news u need betatester...... something like this........ ok Lets start a new blog for such news items....
The great invincible tigers of tamil eelam smashed the SLA bunkerline and killed more than 1000 soldiers and only 2 great freedom fighters had scratch marks in this battle.
attack is the best defense:-According to informed sources (ie-simon gardner)The LTTE not only overran jaffna with the black tigers VP mounted a ICBM and went to meet Thaaamilselvan the "peace Dove" in heaven.
ReplyDeleteAttack is the Best Defence and defencenet, this isn't what MNCS is reporting. They claim the Army advanced and captured an LTTE bunker line for a short period of time (before withdrawing?)
ReplyDeleteAccording to intercepted Tiger communication around 52 LTTE cadres have perished in attacks by advancing troops in MUHAMALAI this morning. Ground troops have also confirmed that the LTTE suffered heavy casualties in the ensuing battle.
Troops manning forward defences advanced to neutralize continuous LTTE attacks on the MUHAMALAI forward defence line since 5.30 a.m. this morning. Troops successfully countered intermitted LTTE attacks by seizing several LTTE bunkers on their line. The LTTE bunker line was under the control of the Security Forces until 7.00 a.m. this morning.
According to latest information 5 more soldiers have been killed in the battle increasing the death toll to 11, the Army said. 41 soldiers have sustained injuries, reports reaching MCNS said.
http://www.nationalsecurity.lk/fullnews.php?id=8400
hey srilankan.... yeh mate u been very creative hey with a bit of graphic designing skills u might join the diaspora propaganda unit.... cos they need these skills to fabricate stories and to change the SL army vehicle numbers in the tamilnet pics as well........
ReplyDeleteSORRY SL.. for joining u with these bastards but u being very creative its great.... specially for these eelam day dreamers
attack is the best defense..no problem bro.
ReplyDeleteSinhalese are so stupid, they think they can get to knows LTTEs casualty through their communication. Rofl time after time, do you really think LTTEs that stupid?
ReplyDeleteLTTE soldier to commander:
"hey we lost 42,54955645646 tigers, I hope SL intelligence doesnt intercept this like they done so many times"
yeh this might be the way that MI got info abt stupid selvan's hideout and delivered the gift......
ReplyDeleteam sorry that SLAF didn't properly wrap the gift...
attack is the best defence..some people are here because they have sometime to kill.What they are craving for is attention at our expense.lets not give it to them.
ReplyDeletebetatester;
ReplyDeleteI did not know LTTE uses smoke signal to send those messages. Now we have to decode the way Smoke signal works to work out the numbers...
Defencenet
ReplyDeleteBetatester and John seem to be LTTE supporters posing as hyper patriotic sinhalese posters. Its so obvious just by reading the stupid rhetoric they post here.
Please ban these losers, we don't want this blog to be like pissing contest central LNP.
It seems that news about the DefenceNet and DefenceNet blogs have reached the Tamil Diaspora LTTE cheerleaders(take a look at how many times this blog is mentioned in LNP). They consider this a "racist Sinhalese blog" many come here to disrupt the discussions.
ReplyDeletePlease ban these fools.
It seems something happened there.
ReplyDeleteSee this artical:
I dont know they Tamilnet trying to say.
See these LTTE maggots
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=23709
betatester,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all we are not here to please the Sinhalese (or any particular race for that matter).
And you say we've posted a low casualty figure.
This is how we reported it:
"6 SLA soldiers have been killed and more than 35 have been injured during today's fighting (casualty figures may rise)."
Please read the bit about "casualty figures may rise".
If you've been a reader of this blog (as you claim to be), you might as well know that we update our reports frequently as we get latest info/ whenever we can access the internet (which is not always possible). In this case you've commented on our first lead which was a few hours old.
We posted the latest casualty figure that was available at the time we made the post. Since there were no quick updates, figures may look erroneous for you.
Anyway according to our latest information more than 15 SLA soldiers have been killed and over 60 have been wounded.
All units have returned to starting positions.
By the way it is not only one LTTE cadre who got killed in the confrontation as per pro rebel media. We can confirm that least 20 LTTE cadres were killed and an unknown number were injured.
ReplyDeleteUpdate:
ReplyDeleteSLA casualties:
22 KIA, 120 wounded. Out of the 120 wounded, at least 20 will not be able to return to battlefield.
LTTE casualties:
Over 65 KIA, Unknown number wounded
LTTE has not captured any MBTs or AFVs belonging to the SLA as per reports by some media. However they've managed to capture several light weapons including assault rifles, ammunition along with around 100 Hand grenades.
Defencenet;
ReplyDeleteHas SL lost or gain any geographical area please?
perein,
ReplyDeleteSLA has not lost nor gained any geographical area according to our information. They've defended the initial LTTE attack and then tried to overrun several bunkers in LTTE FDL. This was when most SLA casualties occurred. Although few LTTE bukners were overrun in the process, troops later returned to original positions to avoid further casualties.
Thank you for the update.
ReplyDeleteLooks to me LTTE may have captured some of their own arms which they have left behind.
Looks to me we have some busy period ahead.
defencenet
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think was the objective of this thrust into the army's FDL?
If it was to capture and hold new territory then they obviously failed.
May the triple gem bless all our soldiers.
ReplyDeleteperein..could be the weapons they took off the dead soldiers..
ReplyDeleteDefenceNet...(when you have the time..)..did the AForce participate in the attack..and was the main reason for casualties..mines?
ReplyDeleteGuys, You may remeber the last time we tried to breakout from the FDLS in Muhamalai.
ReplyDeleteLTTE was expecting a forward thrust from this area for a long time. Thay had fortified their bunkers very well and additional cadres were put on duty.Artilary and mortars were kept ready. APM's. Anti Tank Mines as well as huge trencehs for MBT's. It was a grave strategic miscalculation to launch a conventional forward thrust from this area, evem in retalliation. Should only be defensive in my view.
We may have to do the unexpected, be more innovative if we are to break the LTTE FDL's in this area. LTTE will fight to the teeh to defend this area. The airforce, artillery or MBRL's will not be effective to counter their defence. only option will be a 'unceasing waves' kind of thing which we cant do.
It is a great loss even if one soldier gets kiled. I remeber once Gen Janaka Perera said ' if one gets killed we loose a trained soldier, nedd to recruit another one and train and we also have to look after the family forever'
defenetnet, u are a joke. People are going to rivalry defenceblog when they find out u have been lying to boost morale of the Sinhalese.
ReplyDeleteDefencewire said...
Actual LTTE casualties are as low as 15, but not as low as Tamilnet's, which is 1 KIA. Admittedly SLA got outmaneuvered and outsmarted.
November 8, 2007 12:24 AM
haha
ur fellow sinhalese even says U ARE LYING.
rofl@
ReplyDelete"154 were injured. 60 of them were in critical condition. 18 lost limbs due to anti-personnel mines."
I am sure its a bigger burden to take care of injured than death? and critical injured are even more difficulty.
Good luck SL
I don't really know what the LTTE supporters are all jumping up with joy for, they too suffered similar casaulties and failed to conquer SLA territory.
ReplyDeleteMan, have their expectations sunk to an all time low. LOL!
betatester,
ReplyDelete"People are going to rivalry defenceblog when they find out u have been lying to boost morale of the Sinhalese."
What is a 'rivalry defenceblog'? If by that you meant defencewire we whole heartedly disagree. We never considered (and will never consider) defencewire as a rival. It is an ally. Check our useful links section to find the link to defencewire. As we have always said, we need more blogs like DefenceWire to counter false propaganda that is blurring the reality of the conflict in Sri Lanka. DefenceNet's and DefenceWire's accounts on the stories may not always be the same as we do not share a common information source. If you consider that rivalry, we cannot help you there.
Defencenet
ReplyDeleteCan't you ban this betatester bafoon?
Pro rebel media claim that this attack was lead by the Special Forces and Commandos. This is false. Soldiers of 55th division (VIR/GR) took part in it.
ReplyDeleteSF is deployed in Vavuniya.
GEagle..one way to ban him..just ignore this moron and lets communicate with each other here instead.You need 2 people for an exchange of ideas dont you?...
ReplyDeleteDefenceNet..(When you have the time)..did the army attack 20 bunkers..according to defnse.lk?
ReplyDeletesrilanka,
ReplyDeleteSLA did overrun some bunkers but we cannon confirm if it was 20 or not. Anyway even the bunkers that were overrun had to be left behind as there was no proper coordination and communication between forces; In short there were many lapses in battle planning.
DefenceNet,
ReplyDeleteDefenceWire says that only about 15 LTTE casualty, where as you place it at 65 + an unknown number wounded. I know your sources are different, but I expected the error to be smaller. When you find time can you clarify this matter.
Ares
DefenceNet why do i get the feeling that certain commanders in the army are trying to make a name for themselves at the expense of their own troops?..How can any army win a battle if it is not co-ordinated?.. I think some serious disciplinary action must be taken if this is the case/....
ReplyDeleteThanks DefenceNet for your input.
ReplyDeleteSome errors in the article have been corrected.
ReplyDeleteares,
As of this moment our casualty figure is based on unconfirmed reports. What our source suggested was that 65 LTTE cadres either killed or seriously wounded (this has been corrected in the article).
srilankan,
This was almost a repeat of the last year's failed Muhamalai advance. Only this time there was some damage control.
Two commanders were questioned for last year's failed advance. This time also there will be many inquiries, but the sad part is that we keep doing the same mistakes over and over again. This sort of poorly coordinated attacks completely negate the advantage gained from group based attacks and even LRRP missions.
Defencenet:
ReplyDeleteWhy is SLA lauching operations into LTTE Muhamalai FDL without sound and timely intelligence? Political pressure? Intel is key for these operations. LTTE have specialise and anti-tanks units in this area. And their long-range artillery based in Pooneryn can easily shell Nagarkovil, Muhamalai, Kilali. I guess we never learn.
Some commanders wanted to push forward as troops too were doing considerable damage to LTTE on the frontlines.
ReplyDeleteHowever the high SLA casualty count was the main reason why the operation was stopped.
sldf,
ReplyDeleteFor this operation there was political pressure. This was the one thing that SLA did not need at this stage.
With careful planning and correct utilization of troops, even an assault from Muhamalai would be successful.
But with political objectives, it would only lead to failure and loss of valuable lives.
These key board tigers are soo funny. But I suggest defencenet to remove such postings as;
ReplyDelete1. They have LNP and other blogs for their entertainmant.
2. Reading their comments and replies from others to their comments is a waste of time for a lot of people.
3. They are not in line with the purpose of this blog.
I dont think the army got enough air support.Planes are not show pieces to be kept in mothballs.If thisw as the case we can view them i n museum.The LTTE ploy is not brilliant..just simple..You provoke your enemy into a pocket where your long range guns can inflict casualties on them..just common sense...
ReplyDeleteWhat we really need are those modern field guns that can fire say 40 shells a minute..not these outdated WW2 guns where you have to worry about the gun heating up and exploding in the warm weather..when fireing at a dispersed enemy if you spend 5 minutes between loading shells the enemy has dispersed further and difficult to kill.however sadly we have to do with what we have.Only the hospitals will know the casualty count for sure
ReplyDeletewhile the army was targeted by the field guns the Aforce should have tried to locate the field guns in poonaryn and destroy them.
ReplyDeletedefencenet I know in the past some had mentioned that the LTTE were using heavy guns sparingly because of ammo shortages. I assume this trap on their part required lots of artillery, so does this mean they have replenished some of their stocks? given that they laid the trap in the first place? Thanks
ReplyDeleteJack
ReplyDeleteI never believed the LTTE was running low on artillery ammo. Their active stock may be low, but surely they must have thousands of tons of emergency stocks in underground storage facilities. They weren't really sitting on their hands and whistling during the 4 CFA years.
We have been fighting the LTTE for 25 years, it would be foolish to think that they pretty muched used up all their artillery ammo. They always have a plan B.
But sooner or later they will have to use up those emergency stocks as well, this can only happen if we continue to sink LTTE ships like we have in the past 12 months. In other words, a blue water navy is very important.
I worked in Accident service at the time the casualties were brought in to the NHSL and witnessed what suffering our soldiers have undergone...
ReplyDeleteSome are unconscious and they are the lucky ones, some have amputated limbs, some are screaming with pain.
It was the first occasion that i was thus face to face with battle casualties that came pouring in...
What struck my heart so forcefully was seeing the outside of Accident service flocked with the relatives of the wounded.
I could not take it out of my mind that all these sacrifices was to keep us in the south safe and sound, I relieved my soul to be able to help the soldiers even in a very small manner at NHSL.
Call me military illiterate. I think we are following a bad strategy at muhamalai. This is the 2nd time in a row. Everywhere we pound the FDL for sometime to soften it. That is what we did in thoppigala, that is what we are doing in mannar. For some reason, we just march into muhamalai and come back with heavy casualities. I dont get it.
ReplyDeleteNO, call me militarily illiterate. Why the hell don't we amphibiously flank their FDL's in Muhamaliee??? Thats the easiest way to do this!
ReplyDeletedefence net are you sure that its only 15 ltte killed my sources fron jaffna tells something else...
ReplyDeleteplease cfnrm...
We can once again confirm that at least 65 LTTE cadres were killed.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletechameera,
ReplyDeleteFrom the beginning we've maintained that LTTE casualties are much higher than 15.
Since there was doubts raised by many readers we checked again and we can now confirm that at least 65 LTTE were definitely killed. Number of injured or nature of their injuries (p1,p2,p3) are unknown.
Any way killing 65 or 85 does not change the fact that we once again made a tactical blunder.
how many injured SLDF are P1 and are out of battlefor good...can u cnfirm...
ReplyDelete?
What the fcuk is going on here?
ReplyDeleteI see some filthy LTTE mother-doer named "betatester" coming here and questioning SLA casualties and trying to impose his (LTTE) version of SLA and LTTE casualties!
So, never mind the SLA casualties, but up to now, the LTTE has claimed that they have only lost 1 KIA in this engagement! Wow!
Who do the mother-doers think we are? It is true we have had bloody royal modayas like RW, but that does not mean all of us are also imbeciles!
Never mind what the GOSL/SLDF says and what the LTTE mf's say - let's go by facts - empirical data - as we call in our business.
According to the LTTE, they always lost only "1 or 2" after each of these engagements over the past nearly 25 years and yet, as I said in an earlier post, forgetting all the lies they said, they admitted not long ago that they lost 18,000+ since this war began!
Wow!
Now do your arithmetic. Duh!
If we went by what the LTTE claimed all these years and tallied it up, then only about 600 LTTE maggots should have been killed up to now! What happened was that late Anton Bala-the-Para-Balla forgot about all the lies LTTE said over the years (likely the bloody old leper was drunk! lol!) and admitted to a foreign reporter this LTTE casualty figure (18,000+) and said given this colossal sacrifice, they cannot settle for anything less than "thamileelam."! WoW!
So, that's how the bloody cat jumped out of the bag!
Now, as for a choice of between the LTTE given casualty figures and the GOSL/SLDF given casualties, given this serious boo-boo from the LTTE, I would it is only logical to go with, with some skepticism nevertheless, the GOSL/SLDF casualty figures.
GOSL is a democracy and it cannot hide SLA casualties. However, LTTE being a terrorist org can say what they want and not a bloody soul can find out the truth and publish it in Wanni (at least not unless they want to see the sunrise tomorrow!)
Additionally, one must keep in mind all the denials the LTTE made about the East (about SLA not scoring any victories there etc.) and we all know what the East is today.
As such, what matters is not "who said what," but "who said what and backed it up with results" historically!
OaO Asithri
chameera,
ReplyDeleteAccording to what we heard around 20-30 are p1.
thank you and how has the SLA cnfrmed the ltte 65 dead...?
ReplyDeletechameera,
ReplyDeleteground based intelligence.
Defence Net
ReplyDeleteY cant we get a direct hit from the air for those LTTE bunkers with big huts .. like what they have shown in tamilnut today.
Does our UAVs give live feed ? so they can fire MBRL and ARTY to the LTTE gatherings like that ? hey does our UAVs capable of detecting the human body temperature ( radiation ) on the ground .. like in the movies they can detect the ppl underneath the bunkers and stuff .. then we can direct the MBRL to that exact location .. please explain …
DNet,
ReplyDeleteWe should not ban any users in this blog. This should be an open blog to express anyones idea (even if he is LTTE supporter).
Betatester,
we are here to learn something related to defence.
As i know this is the much better web site to get trustful information. You are trying to make another LNP here. when you free please read Navindran's posts and the response for him from defencenet. before you asking 1 question from defencenet, you better go and ask 1000 questions from pro LTTE web sites.
[We should protect our country Sri Lanka and innocent tamil people as well]
Guys, SLN has been quite for some time now.. is it because they are having limited operations due to the lack of recon from SLAF? Or we don't have any more big fish to catch ?
ReplyDeleteRight now seems like a good time to fill in the pot holes the big pig hides in. There are said to be about 5-6 of them, all known to MI.
ReplyDeleteAll we need to do is take them out, and watch as the pig runs around without a place to hide. THe world could watch and learn its lesson when the tamils these bastards tortured for so long take matters into their hands once there is no hiding place left.
That should create a very interesting staus quo.
What is this crying about militory blunders.
ReplyDeleteIt is a given,that any thrust from Muhammalai is going to result in high casualties.However these damages can be seriously less than the damages that can be caused by an all out LTTE offencive.
It is no secret that LTTE was/is planning a major attack in Mummalai/Killali and Nagarkovil prior to the VPs address on 27th November to coinside with the monsoon period.
So,this offencive was aimed at upseting LTTE plans rather than an all out offensive into the Vanni territory.(attack is the best form of defence)
Please don't forget the terrain that these battles are being faught in.Remameber Elephat pass and how difficult it was for the LTTE to overcome SLA defences there and the high number of LTTE casualties on various attempts to overcome elephant pass.
I would not call this a set back.
Now people have got used to SLA victories they expect a cleansheet everytime they embark on a mission.
By calling this a blunder we underestimate the lives of the soldiers who have made the supreme sacrifice.
This is also a good time to activate the usually camatose diplomatic community to interact closely with the intel people of their host countries to watch and identify any sources of increased funding for terror in SL.
ReplyDeleteThe Prez should crack the whip and wake these idiots into some action. The main guys representing SL in a certain prominant nation is so useless, a dead body could do a better job in this respect. Some of this trash needs to be flushed down a toilet as well.
"By calling this a blunder we underestimate the lives of the soldiers who have made the supreme sacrifice."
ReplyDeleteThere is no question of the heroism of the soldiers who took part in the battle. They were, are and will always be heroes for all Srilankans.
But the blunder we made here was the inclusion of political objectives. Casualties and deaths could have been minimized if the operation was not rushed and proper intel was gathered.
As you said all battles cannot be won and in war both parties lose. But if the loss was due to some stupid reason such as a political objective, that reason ought to be pointed out to make sure that the same scenario is not repeated in the future.
"But the blunder we made here was the inclusion of political objectives. Casualties and deaths could have been minimized if the operation was not rushed and proper intel was gathered.
ReplyDeleteAs you said all battles cannot be won and in war both parties lose. But if the loss was due to some stupid reason such as a political objective, that reason ought to be pointed out to make sure that the same scenario is not repeated in the future."
Well said defencenet...
Bloody politics is the biggest curse...
I cant understand why military heads have to listen to these idiots when in comes military issues since we politicos have no idea as to how and when battle plans should be executed. Why can't the military leaders stand up with integrity even if they risk getting the boot?
Defence,
ReplyDeleteim over and over telling you
we better use Beachcraft type servalance flight to determine
how they move,
it's always better to have support of some facts behind every arti fire... rather that have non and would be a waste..!
we know they hide arties after firing, can thurmal cameras pick up the signatures??
we have to lower our personnal casualties oneway or the other.
We dont wanna really warry about BETA or sort of guys, stop replying him and stay as U have not seeing his pulishes, better not give him the attention he need :)
Defence,
ReplyDeleteI wonder..
is this usefull for us or i dont know whether we already using the similar technique..??
can't we use
desition support system
which always required..
a certain CONFIDENCE LEVEL (a figure) for a every mission
1. list of action/ action plan
2. confidence of each from veteran officers, soldiers (depend on the ground war type , tecnology, experions) including navy and ari force...
total confidence level is calculated to execute the Plan
if confidence level figure is higher than the limit, then we go for a mission..
then it's easy to convince.. those un-educated bunch of politicians..
these these ppl have no confidence over the particular mission...!
Dear Sri lankan,
ReplyDeleteI can imagine your anger towards these barbarians. When we were bitten by dog, we are not doing back the same action for the dog. Winning a war is multi faced activitiy. We should win civilians, international community and our well wishers as well. It is hard to manage a war in all front, but Mahinda is doing it very well.
Hitting track load of wounded LTTErs not worthy for us. If it carry some senior figures, definitely we should attack. I think you all can understand what I am going to say.
Defencenet, others,
ReplyDeleteHow can you tell that there was a political hand behind the battle at Muhamalai? Even your own report seems to contradict it. I think it went on the lines that groups of tigers coerced or trapped the SLA in to foraying through no mans land.
Gotabhya Rajapaksha has said many times that they will not interfere with the armed forces role. We can further believe as Lt. Gen Sarath Fonseka is a man with a good back bone as we saw when he stood up against CBK when asked to remove HSZs. I think Gotabhaya Rajapaksha has the sense and obviously the necessary clout to prevent any political meddling.
How do you all assert that there is political meddling by this current government and also specifically for this current battle?
Defencenet,
ReplyDeleteWhat was the role of the airforce in this whole scenario? Were there any close support sorties flown to assist the SLA units?
kiri,
ReplyDeleteThe operation was rushed and no proper intel gathering was done prior to launch. This was the main reason for failure. Objective was a quick victory, not a victory with minimal losses.
b2spirit,
Mi-24 gunships were deployed but their role was limited.
Fighter jets were not used as bombing the FDL bunkers which were scattered in a large area proved to be ineffective.
Defencenet,
ReplyDeleteI am afraid my main question went unanswered.
i.e. How can we assert that there was political pressure behind this battle?
Overall i think we didnt fair too badly by all accounts.We have to face the fact that the LTTE are short of cadres .but they have plenty of mines.so the plan is..do a "barathanatyum" in front of SLDF forward defenceline.Then invite troops to attack across a mine field also within the range of artillary.I think we did well to survive and also inflict some LTTE casualties.The problem here is that air support was lacking and also the LTTE will simply use 10 year olds to remine the area again..(more casualties).This same tactic was used by a german general on the russian advance into berlin.Sukov who was furious used airforce to crush german defenses
ReplyDeleteif no prior planing.. or no planing at all
ReplyDeleteif's completely useless..
talking about em..
anyone who knows the man behind the political desition???
the worst case scenario and a real morale booster for the LTTE would have been the LTTE capturing another 100 soldiers to be murdered at their leisure...by skinning them alive..which didnt happen..after barbers demise .my skin crawls when i think of what the female tigers would have done to these poor souls.
ReplyDeletePiyal..thanks for your input and your comments are well received.I hope you understand the gravity of what we are facing..I wont keep my hopes pinned on the international community if i were you.the Hon pres is right "Api whenuen api"..thats all we have.. Having said that i have a lot of faith in many good peoples in the west.The point is the attitude of govts dont necessaryly reflect the attitudes of the people
ReplyDeleteDear Piyal,
ReplyDeleteSo fx:just because chilcott (a govt rep) is a shit..you cannot say that those british people who donated money to rebuild schools in the south are shits as well.
Dear Asithri...this coolie betatester..is trying to rattle you.keep cool bro.The only reason he came to this site was because he was "bored" and required some entertainment.PLs dont give him that pleasure..
ReplyDeleteDefenceNet..(when you have the time..)..in casualty counts what is p1,p2,p3 etc?
ReplyDeleteI think there is nothing to argue. It is plain and simple to break out from our defences in Muhamali is the dumbest thing we could do. It is the most frtified FDL of Tigers.
ReplyDeleteJust think you are a bloody tiger and in a LTTE bunker. You are protected from artilary, air attacks,You won't get shot. When things get bad you simply retreat through the trenches. It is simply aimning the soldiers coming towards you. [provided they survive the mine fields].
According to what I heard most of the casualities are from APM's. Who the hell asked our boys to walk on them? And I dead sure there wasn't enough surgeons at Palaly hospital. Out of two army surgeons visiting Palaly one is not qualified and the other is mad. Continuous flow of voluntary surgeons from health services we had during the past [ like in Rivirasa] was screwed by Stupid and swollen headed top brass.
You should see our soldiers slowly die due to lack of medical attention calling 'amme'.
This is a crime.
Remember Asithri
ReplyDeleteonce we won this battle,
India had help Pirabha..
and Rajiv got killed..
shameless Inia.. still helping the fool..
not only India.. but lots of countries behind,
But i can tell one thing,
Pirabha the fool does not understand that he cant win this war..
he's the Ultimat Fool in this Island (im telling him the fool, beacause finally everything that does not count for the betterment of himself or countrymen is falling in to the STUPID category)
Mottapala,
ReplyDeleteIf what you say is true, I am truly saddned by this whole thing..I heard in the past, half of those soldiers could have been saved , if we gave them proper medical attention..Specially these young men died due to excessive bleeding , most of the time...
Is there any way SLA can organise doctors from government hospitals before any major operation?
I understand that secrecy would be an issue in that regard...
I wish all these brave men, speedy recovery..May triple gem/god bless you...
srilankan,
ReplyDeleteP1- Seriously injured
P2 - Less seriously injured
P3- Walking wounded (minor injuries)
kiri,
We cannot prove that there was political pressure on the operation through an online forum such as this.
We can only show you the telltale signs of political intervention on a military operation. We cannot cite our information source and prove the fact, due to many reasons some of which are obvious. Besides, if we name the figures involved, doing so will instantly turn DefenceNet into a mid slinging contest between supporters of political parties and will be branded as a Pro-(name-of-political-party-you-hate) blog..
DefenceNet,
ReplyDeleteI have been raising the alarm bells about what has been going on in Tissamaharamaya for sometime; unfortunately, nobody seemed to be taking the events seriously. Relying on police to dealing with it is going to be a monumental mistake.It is high time, a clever army officer took over the security in the area.
I think we must publish more details of these dead men by hacking. Police does not want to expose them, to cover up their own shortcomings - not because of any sentiments, no matter how misplaced that is.
An exposure of that kind bear the true nature of the peace doves!
DefenceNet,
ReplyDeleteIn this day and age, there are a great deal of pragmatic measures to deal with the problems in the deep south:
1. Increase the mobile coverage of the area
2. Organize farmers and launch an awareness programme about the threat
3. Equip the farmers with cheap mobile phones to raise the alarm, when the suspcious movements are detected
4. Don't use trained soldiers for the task, when they have better and more crucial thing to do, when simple measure are available to contain the threat.
5. Bombard the people of the area with constant reminders of potential threat
Many thanks DefenceNet.
ReplyDeleteMottapala,
If what you say has not been remedied.. i am truely saddened.May the triple gem bless the forces.
Why on earth did the army go for this ill-prepared operation?reminds us of the debacles @ muhamalai last year,& the infamous agni-kela operation,whaere 100's of soldiers were given as cannon fodder to happily-grinning Tiger mortar/sniper teams,forward-deployed hit-squads,& the ever-popular IED(improvised explosive devices)..All for what??The Army had to pull back to their original FDL's,not acheiving anything & LOSING everythin..Men & Material
ReplyDeleteDon't we ever LEARN?we should have stuck to the same strategy that we were following the last couple of months,that got the tigers 'out' of the East,namely small-unit search & destroy operations..we should have kept the starvation going on,launch psychological ops like dropping a few leaflets,maybe?calling on the Tigers to surrender..atleast the child-soldiers/moderate Tigers would have accepted this offer?
Apparently according to lankaenews?...154 are injured and 60 in critical condition...3 with eye injuries at eye hospital..I dont know how authentic this is.If true we are looking at a death toll of about 60(say 60%).probably due to secondary infections..such as .blood poisonning..what they need are blood donors.
ReplyDeleteOn another note,i feel we have got to be a bit 'wary'of big brother India to the North,as if we hit oil in the mannar basin,like fowzie says,india might try to flex its muscles over Little Boy to the south-That's Us..we need to go for a superior-layered Air-defence network,to atleast stall any Indian AF incursions & shoot down a few planes..I feel a few S-300 Tunguska mobile SAM/AAA should do the TRick!!will russia even consider selling these to us,assuming we are able to afford them?i guess not..india will pressurize them not to sell any 'offensive' weapons..are we gonna bow down to 'Big brother'?
ReplyDeletemottapala,i agree man,we never learn from mistakes..just keep repeating them,& add a few more as well...this is the tragedy that SL is currently in..
ReplyDeleteDefenceNet..when you have the time..how effective are small arms against tiger bunkers?.Also if the army retreated from tiger bunkers..did they not have enough time to mine them?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDefencenet,
ReplyDelete"Besides, if we name the figures involved, doing so will instantly turn DefenceNet into a mid slinging contest between supporters of political parties and will be branded as a Pro-(name-of-political-party-you-hate) blog..
"
I guess this answers my question. Who else can it be? It can only be the government. Immediately Mahinda Rajapaksha and Gotabhaya Rajapaksha is implicated.
If this is true it is a serious matter. Also if this is not true it is also a serious matter. Does this also mean the most of the past operations had a political hand behind it.
I tend not to believe in what you say. i.e. that the government was meddling with decisions that the military is supposed to take.
The sadest fact is that the tigers would have already remined the area awaiting another attack.
ReplyDeleteSri Lankan, Defencenet,
ReplyDeleteThere is another category,
Po - The zero here means no chance of survival. That is not absolute. Depending on the circumstances. For example a serioud injury that can be treated provided fascilities are available. But if the boy cannot survive for cuople of hours [plane ride + ambulance ride along Galle road]it would be a Po. And would be ignored.
These are the guys who slowly die bleeding or whatever, helpless in a corridor in Palaly hospital or in an advanced dressing station.
These are the guys who call for there mother in the dying bed as there is nobody help them.
And guess what. Nobody gives a damn. There wives or mothers will be begging for years to get their salary sorted. When they get it, it will be minus the cost of the weapon they lost![I dont know wheather its been changed now]
thanks mottapala
ReplyDeletekiri,
ReplyDeletePlease do not misunderstand our previous comment. We never meant that the people you mentioned are definitely responsible. We merely said we would not publish the names of those who were involved.
To believe or not to believe our account of the story is up to you so no arguments there.
this defence.lk is still publishing rubbish...11 dead 41 injured..do these people think we are idiots?
ReplyDeleteWe know the muhamalai no man's land is heavily mined. We know that they have so many bunkers and trenches. We also know that there are no civilians.
ReplyDeleteThen, why the heck we dont carpet bomb or napalm this area? Why are we sending ground forces? Beats me. Perhaps there is a strategy that I don't understand.
one country the planes are not designed to carry large number of bombs..also each bomb costs about Rs 50,000/- i think. this is why the forces have gone in for special bombs.. i hope to give vp a wake up call during his heroes day speech?..also it will achieve very little as the LTTE will be notified as soon as the planes leave AFBase and will evacuate troops to better defenses.Infantry is the only way but not like this
ReplyDelete?
ReplyDeleteone country..even if we were to say carpet bomb we still wont be able to occupy the land because we will still be within range of the artillary in poonaryn.This is the key..the long range guns.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't our forces acquire some higher caliber MLRS units which have "steel rain" ability?
ReplyDeleteA few volleys of steel rain will change the entire landscape of Muhamalai FDL for good. Whole swathes of land will be saturated by the steel rain, this will also tiggers most on the mines buried in the region. So two benefits from one weapon, destruction of enemy FDLs and mine clearance. Can't beat that can you?
Mines or no mines, bunkers or no bunkers, steel rain will cut through like a hot knife through butter. The Iraqis learned this leasson in 1991.
The use of MLRS with steel rain will have a lot of SLA lives no doubt. It is a most power ground based weapon created, some people call it the "god of war".
ReplyDeleteI would say that it is also cheaper when one considers all the costs associated with the mobilizing, supplying and leading the troops into the FDL to do thing the old fashioned way.
I am going to give you for important facts. You may either ignore or prepare!
ReplyDelete1. The rift between Pottu or Soosai, and Prabha are lies. Yes, Pottu explored the possibility of Government pardon through proxies of Karuna, but the government got cold feet because of India and the interpol warrant against him. So, Pottu is back in his camp. There is no internal rift. Yet, Pottu is the most powerful person in LTTE, and the government made a serious mistake in letting the opportunity go.
2. Soosai is silent until the massive project of building 200 suicide boats are complete. The first-phase involves 60 boats and are now being built in a secret location. Another, few multi-day fishing trawlers are being modified to act as suicide-boat landing craft. Still, LTTE get daily supplies of weapons through small fishing boats and mainly though bribing Police in Negombo Kalpitiya area.
3. LTTE is successfully hacking into government departments, defense establishment networks, and sniff most of the mail that exchange within the forces and other few of the government secretariats. LTTE has few inside help, as well as capitalise on many mistakes done by network management staff of these institutions. The gang is based in Germany and the Netherlands.
4. The biggest loads of C4 explosives and Claymore mines come to LTTE are from India.
Guys,
ReplyDeleteDon't be very downbeat about the setback at Muhamalei; it does not amount to a debacle.
I thing the army were a bit over-zealous on this occassion: they retaliated against the enemy offesive and then went too far ambitiously and sufferd this way.
I don't think they had any plans to occupy this stretch of land nor do I think, that they will capture this bit in near future.
Its strategic significance is not in the list of priorities.
My hunch is that the Army has other plans and we may see them at work in the coming days, not months.
Let's wish them good luck!
Golden Eagle,
ReplyDeleteFor the cost of each MRLS you talk about, you can buy 4 Mig 27s.
Cluster Bombs is the answer to your plea!
Government made another serious blunder this time too!
GOSL did not have any strategy to cut LTTE's "third-line of support" yet alone the second line of support.
R*fard&C*ble,
ReplyDeleteThe hacking buisness into each other's department seems to be mutual, doesn't it?
The pin-point strike on the Alex communication indicates that. Your comments please!
Alex com is a bunker complex, and not a single bunker.
ReplyDeleteSLAF hit only one part. In fact, only two (2.5 I would say) rooms damaged.
r*fard&c*ble
ReplyDelete"For the cost of each MRLS you talk about, you can buy 4 Mig 27s."
No, not really.
"Cluster Bombs is the answer to your plea!"
Plea? The only plea is by the LTTE on the civilians to donate blood. Oh BTW, its not cluster bombs I was talking about. Don't you know anything?
I agree mostly with kiri. If this operation is politically motivated then it's very serious. It has to be stopped. Only persons who have power to make such an influence are Gota and the president. So weather we like or not they are the ones who are implied here.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time we hear such an accusation under this government. And if it's true it has to be stopped from here.
Politicians decide on war. And the military decides where and when the battles should be fought (some times terrorists do that). News of Political involvement in the latter would greatly demoralize the troops and the well wishers equally.
I know that defencewire made this accusation first and then followed by defencenet. So coming from two sources means there should be something true in this. In the same vein I have to mention that when a one make such a serious accusation there should be hard core facts to follow it up. Just mere speculations are not sufficient in this type of a serious case and we have just seen only speculations in both of the sites. Pardon me defencenet. But if you have the information I think you should publish it divulging names of the culprits. There are many people who would be able to influence the government in this regards.
DefenceNet..pls take R*fard&Cable comments seriously..
ReplyDeleteMY god ..what kind of govt will pardon a mass murderer who has been butching people for 30 years.Actually i am really worried for those people at kebbitigollawa.MY only concession is that in the AABase attack we killed all the black maggots.
how can the army guard their networks...and protect internal mail?...how about proxy servers?.any comments..
ReplyDelete"Only persons who have power to make such an influence are Gota and the president."
ReplyDeleteWell this is wrong. Division commanders in the SLA were given permission to launch operations without notifying the combined operational command (COC). Yesterday's mission was not notified to COC (again, very similar to that of Muhamalai debacle last year) and thus lacked proper coordination and communication between Airforce/ground troops and command center. Hence even Divisional commanders can be held responsible for the failed mission.
We are sorry we cannot just publish names without any proof. And with the amount and nature of information we currently have, we cant prove this fact through an online forum.
It has been observed in many ER occasions that there is an 80% survival of P0s if the patient can be stabilized at the earliest opportunity, and constant care is provided.
ReplyDeleteIt is a massive undertaking in a war situation, but still a possibility.
I have a friend, who was found alive in the Palaly mortuary among the other dead, by someone who was trying to identify the dead.
A guy by the handle su33 is reporting in LNP that the US gave Lanka a radar-based maritime surveillance system and several rigid hulled inflatable boats today.
ReplyDeletedefencenet what do you know of this?
GEagle this is true...news item on defense.lk
ReplyDeletesorry GEagle..nationalsecurity.lk
ReplyDeleteThanks SL
ReplyDeleteNoltte=peace
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly what I was trying to say.According to sources not a single army doctor is properly trained in a ER situation. They just play it by the ear. Lack of trained surgeons at Palaly and the time delay between palaly and Colombo is the main cause of death. You may remember this is exactly what happened to Gen Kobbakaduwa. Sarath Fonseka would have had the same fate but the blase was in Colombo.
But.... we are Sri Lankan. We never learn!
The last Muhamali debacle was commanded by a temporary replacement. The regular commander was on medical leave. He was glad that he wasn't there. This is why I stringly feel that this is somebody trying to score points.
many lives and limbs could have been saved if we strengthen our ER medical practices in the battle-field.
ReplyDeleteThere was a time that even the broken legs were amputated (that could have been well saved), because of lack of facilities and trained professionals.
Still there is no great improvement.
How about getting US and EU help in training our medical-staff on ER best-practices?
ReplyDeleteAny thoughts?
Defencenet,
ReplyDeleteI have a question about this;
""Only persons who have power to make such an influence are Gota and the president."
Well this is wrong. Division commanders ....."
You (and also DW) earlier said there was a political influance. But now it seems it was not from gota or MR. (I was suprised.) Then it was from whom? If you can't give the name (of politikka) you can give a hint. or atleast initials if you fear about any problems.
Most of you guys here talk big but never actually go through with it.
ReplyDeleteI'm talking about the Defence fund. Just last week I read on Daily Mirror that www.dailymirror.lk got 6.5 million hits on the first five day (I think it was) after going into live news updates.
What we need to do is set up a fund and use these forums to promote it.
Since it's our money, a bunch of us, need to be co-owners of the account. We could even get the three heads of the arm forces and the CDS to co-own it with us.
The goal is to check what type of weapons we'll need and collect money to buy it.
I think we should have an air wing in the Army. An attack helicopter squadron based in Palali would be great.
We also need to be able to open up a couple of fronts. Yesterday when there was trust south from Muhamalai, Special Forces station in Vavuniya should have started a limited offensive northward and even maybe a limited offensive northward from Wali Oya as well. You could make it a mock trust and make them feel overwhelm. I think we have the make power to do that!
We have to be able to stick with our men and women at times of loss as well.
We have to be innovative and be able to take risk. We lost some of our aircrafts at A'pura last month while parked at one of the more secure airbases (as many 'analyst' commented). So what if we lose some while taking some risk?
Most of you guys here talk big but never actually go through with it.
ReplyDeleteI'm talking about the Defence fund. Just last week I read on Daily Mirror that www.dailymirror.lk got 6.5 million hits on the first five day (I think it was) after going into live news updates.
What we need to do is set up a fund and use these forums to promote it.
Since it's our money, a bunch of us, need to be co-owners of the account. We could even get the three heads of the arm forces and the CDS to co-own it with us.
The goal is to check what type of weapons we'll need and collect money to buy it.
I think we should have an air wing in the Army. An attack helicopter squadron based in Palali would be great.
We also need to be able to open up a couple of fronts. Yesterday when there was trust south from Muhamalai, Special Forces station in Vavuniya should have started a limited offensive northward and even maybe a limited offensive northward from Wali Oya as well. You could make it a mock trust and make them feel overwhelm. I think we have the make power to do that!
We have to be able to stick with our men and women at times of loss as well.
We have to be innovative and be able to take risk. We lost some of our aircrafts at A'pura last month while parked at one of the more secure airbases (as many 'analyst' commented). So what if we lose some while taking some risk?
Noltte=peace,
ReplyDeleteI had a small feeling that AFP was reporting against us. But until you mentioned it few times I didn’t notice how biased they are in their reporting. The way it reported the ceremony, which U.S. Ambassador handed over a radar-based maritime surveillance system and some RHIBs to the Sri Lankan Navy was unbelievable.
Following is the AFP article.
AFP article.
The title is "US urges Sri Lanka to end fighting with rebels" And they are stressing one line of the US embassy news release. They have modified that line too. Following sentence is from their report.
""The Ambassador ... urged the Government of Sri Lanka to pursue a negotiated settlement to Sri Lanka's conflict," the statement said."
They have modified the above sentence too. They have replaced the word "also" in the original statement by three dots. Following is the original sentence.
"The Ambassador also urged the Government of Sri Lanka to pursue a negotiated settlement to Sri Lanka’s conflict and stressed the importance of respecting fully human rights."
Nowhere it says that ambassadors urged to stop the war. So AFP has taken one sentence from the US embassy statement and modified it and deduced something else never implied by the original article. Shame on you suckers.
Actually Embassy statement stresses the following sentence.
"Ambassador Blake expressed the U.S. Government’s hope that the radar system and the inflatable boats would help the Sri Lankan Navy to interdict arms shipments to the LTTE, which was designated a foreign terrorist organization the United States in 1997"
statement by US embassy.
When I read likes of above AFP articles makes me wonder the honesty of these foreign correspondents.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Jane's Defense Weekly LTTE earns between $ 200-300 million per year. If they spend 1% of that money (i.e. $ 2-3 million) they would be able to buy all of ("most of" would be the more correct term) the forein correspondents residing in Sri Lanka (Much less than that to buy some local correspondents). I have a strong feeling that it's already happening. Only thing good in most of these articles is English. Contents are so poor in facts it appears that they do not know the meaning of the word "research".
They wouldn't even think of taking bribes from Alkida because they know that US government would come after them. But who would go after them if they are taking bribes from LTTE? Nobody cares and nobody would know about it.
More food for thought.
ReplyDelete"The Island" main story.
"With the Eastern Province firmly under its control, the security forces are stepping up offensive action in the northern theatre of operations.
This would be a critical part of the government’s overall strategy to pressure the LTTE, a senior Defence official said. "We are at a decisive stage. With the recent target killing of a group of senior cadres including S. P. Thamilselvan at a secret hideout in Kilinochchi, the stage is set for us to undermine them further," he said.
The army is likely to intensify the pressure ahead of the forthcoming Heroes’ Week which would culminate with LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran’s annual speech delivered on November 26th.
Fielding questions, the official asserted that the ongoing ground operations in the general area west of Omanthai, ahead of the Vavuniya-Mannar main road and action at Muhamalai-Kilali area would bring considerable pressure on the LTTE.
"We are engaging them on two fronts, forcing them to commit sizeable units," he said. "For how long could they sustain their firepower given the difficulty in replenishing their depleted arsenals?" Destruction of eight LTTE ships on the high seas and several trawlers and speed boats in the Gulf of Mannar by the navy since September last year had considerably weakened the LTTE’s overseas supply route.
The army mounted a large scale raid into LTTE-held Muhamalai on Wednesday as part of its strategy to test and soften enemy fortifications. Troops backed by armour and artillery have penetrated what a senor military official called well defended strong points at the Muhamalai causeway.
A dozen soldiers died in Wednesday’s battle with over 50 receiving injuries. The majority of the wounded were airlifted during the day to the National Hospital and Sri Jayewardenepura.
In some areas, troops pushed up to 5 kms into LTTE-territory before returning to their bases. Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said that they were forced to neutralise the threat posed by the LTTE. Troops assaulted LTTE positions after observing a constant build-up ahead of the Jaffna frontline. The army estimated at least 60 deaths among the defenders and dozens wounded.
Wednesday’s push came after a series of confrontations between the army and the LTTE in the Muhamalai-Nagarkovil area on the Vadamaradchchi East coast causing minor damages to both parties.
The army is in the process of strengthening, re-organising and establishing fresh fighting formations to face fresh challenges. Once this process is finalised, the army, The Island, understands would have the required strength to engage the LTTE simultaneously at several fronts.
Major ground battles are expected in the Vanni region in the coming months unless the LTTE unconditionally returns to the negotiating table. The LTTE quit the Norwegian-facilitated talks in April 2003 during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s tenure as Prime Minister and in August last year triggered all out war by attacking the strategic Trincomalee harbour and the Jaffna frontline."
Some interesting exchanges I see…
ReplyDeleteDefNet: If you say that “political interference” re. this Muhamalai incident happened by:
“Division commanders in the SLA were given permission to launch operations without notifying the combined operational command (COC). Yesterday's mission was not notified to COC..”
AND when you admitted that it is not Gota/MR who are the errand parties (i.e. re. “political interference”), it now boggles my mind as to where this alleged “political interference” came from? Is this real or is this another canard is what I am wondering.
Somehow, I find it hard to believe that any other person in the MR GOSL other than Gota or MR (such as any other lowly GOSL MP or other cabinet minister) would even take a risk to try and direct the war effort by attempting to give instructions to the division commanders of the SLA and even more remotely still, which division commander in the SLA would follow such orders if not coming via the proper channel/protocol that they are ordered to follow?
This is a mystery as Kiri and Hemantha rightly said and this is something we must be cautious about as there is so much anti-MR, anti-Gota propaganda circulating about through the joint efforts of the LTTE agents in the South + opportunistic RW pansies (who would gladly prostitute their mother to the LTTE if they can come to power) and it is easy to become victimized by such. I met someone in NY recently who told me that the LTTE has hired two top-notch lobbying firms in the US to try and clean the LTTE’s image there and some of the early results of that program we saw recently when Hillary Clinton uttered her uncanny statements vis-Ã -vis the LTTE. If the LTTE can spend $$Millions in the US to carry out false propaganda, I think it is not rocket science to understand that LTTE has, like a cancer, invaded into every nook and cranny of public opinion instrument (including opposition politicians) in Sri Lanka by “buying people” with $$Billions of SL Rupees.
Somehow, this view (of “political interference”) lacks logic and I find this very…very strange!
OaO Asithri
"Daily News" Defence Column.
ReplyDeleteDefence Column.
"AND when you admitted that it is not Gota/MR who are the errand parties (i.e. re. “political interference”), it now boggles my mind as to where this alleged “political interference” came from?"
ReplyDeleteWe neither admitted nor denied anything there Asthiri. We merely said we could not comment on the issue. Reason we said that and the reason why we didnt include the fact in the main article was because we could not prove it right here. Keep in mind that the term 'political influence' can be interpreted in many ways.
Once again we trust our information source. But then again we could be wrong. But please keep in mind that we are not anti-government. What would be gain by being so?
This would be our last comment on 'political influence'.
Guys, here's another realty check:
ReplyDeleteIf all what we are ever going to do is to stare down the LTTE maggots at the FDLs and NOT ever attempt to go on the offensive (for the fear of SLA casualties – an unpalatable scenario I agree) and substantively liquidate them and win back the illegally occupied areas, then this war will go into a stalemate and likely the GOSL will change over to Ranil pansy in about 3 years time and then it is a moot point – As Ranil will just give LTTE maggots what they could not get through war! Ranil has already stated that he will pull back the forces to pre-MavilA positions!!!
So, patriots, keep in mind we do not have 25 years to execute this war and win it over the LTTE maggots. LTTE is there to stay forever as there are no elections in Wanni to dump LTTE and bring some other entity into executive power. On the contrary, we only have a limited number of years before the SL population, likely through its sheer frustration with issues like the cost of living for example (nothing new; this is how it has happened in the past), will boot out MR GOSL and bring Ranil pansy into power. So, what is imperative is that we not only maintain a good defense, but progressively and substantively go on the offensive – agree judiciously – and liquidate the LTTE mf’s “with extreme prejudice.” Now when we go on the offensive, it is inevitable that we will have casualties, but that is a price you have to pay for the good of the longer term goal.
Keep in mind that based on mathematical models that were done by some PhDs here, LTTE needs to have a kill ratio of 20:1 (20 SLAs for 1 LTTE killed) if they are ever going to win this war, establish “thamileelam” and sustain it! On the contrary, this type of offensive has a kill ratio of 1:5 (1 SLA for every 5 LTTE killed) and as such, I agree we CANNOT call this a “blunder.”
If every time we have a handful of SLA casualties we are going to lose our nerve, then we might as well give up now and give LTTE the “thamileelam!”
OaO Asithri
guys the best news i saw yesterday was not what the US gave the SLN.
ReplyDelete....(Yes the Radar would be very usefull and the RIBs would come in handy when boarding ships and highspeed patroling around ports!)
Best great thing is CDL making a 40M Fisheries protection vessel for the MCD. If we improve these boat yards and get better techno tranfers we could be building our own FPB/MB type vessels soon.
DefNet: Your point is well taken.
ReplyDeleteGreets, OaO Asithri
Asithri,
ReplyDeleteAgree with you mostly. I think defencenet is using the term "politics" in a more general way. I guess he is referring to internal politics in the military (I am not sure what defencewire meant by that). You see, when there is some back stabbing occurs in our workplaces we call it "politics".
As you said the ambiguity here is being used by Mahinda and Gota bashers very effectively.
Nemesis,
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree with the second part of your comment."(Best great thing is CDL making ....)".
But need to add one thing for the first part. Yes, the radar is very useful. But the most important is the implied message that they are still with us in this hunt.
hemantha,
ReplyDeleteCopy that...yes they are still with us,
we should also try to get the aussis, Singapore and russia on a better footing with us on CT activities.
Nemesis,
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
Daily Mirror Defence Column.
ReplyDeleteMirror Defence Line.
DefenceNet, I don't understand why you're calling this a blunder. Sure, it could have been better. No SLA casualties but look at the LTTE. They've lost 60 cadres. SLA walked into a mine field and destroyed the LTTE. I would call this a success.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, it's just a matter of time until the SLA takes Elephant Pass and march into Kilinochi. Or who knows, they might march into Kilinochi from the south.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHemantha,
ReplyDeleteNice spotting of sucker work of AFP Sub Edit Desk, which is based in India (I believe), which is accused of turning whatever being sent by the Sri Lankan correspondents into Pro-LTTE communication.
These sub-edit suckers should be well-oiled by LTTE to suck this much for many years.
We have seen Western politicians that have been brought for less than $5000, and these suckers may be sucking for 50 Cents even.
Sri Lanka navy gets US radar, boats
ReplyDeletewww.lbo.lk
Airforce should fly in parallel to the LTTE bunker lines and take-up the concentrated targets.
ReplyDeleteSomeone has mentioned cluster bombs..But I do not think that Sri Lanka has any.
MBRL fire without any UAV spotting data means waste of lot of rounds.
I agree with GE's Steel Rain, but the rain should be well-targeted. The best is to have UAV feeds directed to MBRL teams.
noltte=peace,
ReplyDeleteabout cluster bombs, some time back the Tamilnet claimed that LTTE damedge a MIG-27 and some parts had fallen off the Mig.
The pic on Tamilnet showed some parts that looked like the spin vains of Russian Cluster bomblets...so may be we got them.
But i cant say for sure....only the dead tigers would know ;)
"Someone has mentioned cluster bombs..But I do not think that Sri Lanka has any. "
ReplyDeleteNoLTTE SLAF does have cluster bombs, if you recall one of the Tamilnet photos of 'parts' from 'damaged' mig or kfir, those were actually the parts of a cluster bomb canister.
haha nemisis beat me too it :)
ReplyDeleteThanks guys....
ReplyDeleteSometimes I am puzzled about why SLAF is not utilising its assets when you really need them?
Defencenet, let me know if anything prevented it in Muhammalai..there are no civilians there.
Defence Net or anyone else,
ReplyDeleteAny idea as to the distance between the two front lines in muhamali?
Jack..
ReplyDeleteglad to see some one else took notice of it and remembered !!
Jonathan,
It is said to vary....some times close as 50M!!
Did you guys see the pics on Tamilnet of the weapons the captured from our bunkers?
ttp://www.tamilnet.com/pic.html?path=/img/publish/2007/11/07_11_07_ltte_05.jpg&width=700&height=432
I was happy to see the RPO-A Thermobaric RL. Note the camo tube agents the wall, looks a lot like the RPO-A to me.
It means that our boys give tigers hell and cremate them when possible! And that our front line troops have anti fortification weapons.
the Sad down side is that they(LTTE) got one now..( i think the already had some)and I hate to think of it been used on our boys...
or a civilian bus!..or may be even a hardened AC shelter or on one of our VIPs!
Too bad but…shit happens.. :(
This picture of the Muhamalei will help u guys to get a clear pic of the place
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fileden.com/files/2007/2/7/747128/Muhamalei.jpg
This is a high resolution satellite pic of the area
OaO Asithri
ReplyDelete"If every time we have a handful of SLA casualties we are going to lose our nerve, then we might as well give up now and give LTTE the “thamileelam!”"
Bit rich isnt it? these "handful" of casualaties are human beings they have mothers,fathers,sisters,brothers...can u imagine the loss felt by them? try to think about this when you type about something from the safety of USA.why dont you come to sri lanka and join the army then we'll be able to judge your "nerve" then.
my deepest sympathies to all the guys who paid with their lives for a political statement on the budget day. may you attain nirvana and never be unlucky enough to be born in a country cursed like ours
This daily mirror defence column has lots of similarities with the DN blog...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=QRh&q=a+similar+blunder+was+made+by+the+army+where+175+soldiers+were+killed+and+over+400+were+injured+during+a+failed+advance&btnG=Search
Plagiarism on the part of dailymirror columnist Sunil Jayasiri?
DNet,
ReplyDeleteis it true Ampara STF camp was attacked today early morning????
sankathi.com
I am sure all here appreciate the sacrifice of the soldiers and the suffering their families will go through for the rest of their lives.After all regardless of if we are in SLanka or not our thoughts and prayers are with DefenceNet and DefenceWire and the forces.We just dont want troops to engage the enemy without well thoughtout plans and air support or for the benefit of one commander who wants to move up the "ladder". This is not a cricket match.The outcome of stupidity is death not " having a beera later on" .As for this air support..." no point seeing them in airshows and in museum..they are not toys but are there for a well defined purpose".DefenceNet and DefenceWire have done a superb job so far...Why is MR udaya saying we have only 41WIA..11KIA?..
ReplyDeleteWhat asithri said regarding this PR firm is very very disturbing...These LTTE shits are now using the "american system" against the Americans themselves.
Again here we go taking pot shots at the goverment.
ReplyDeleteMr Cable says "my deepest sympathies to all the guys who paid with their lives for a political statement on the budget day."
How do you not know whether the LTTE Terrorists wanted to make a political statement on the day of the budget? It definitely seems more likely! I guess you can't prove that this was political meddling as Defencenet couldn't. I kindly ask everyone to stop making wild accusations if you can't substantiate it with some supporting evidence.
i agree with you kiri..
ReplyDeleteLove for the country and love for ones political ally should not be mixed. End of the day nobody can deny the FACT that politicians use the war and the blood of the soldiers to hold onto power and make a few millions.
ReplyDeleteDue to the nature of law and order and the guardians of justice nothing much have been proven as fact... that doesn't mean it didn't happen cos it's happening even today... Anybody who denies that is living in a dream world
defencenet, did LTTE overrun our bunkers as mentioned in tamilnet and captured thermobarric stuff..... or these r the wepaons that the retreating soldiers left did we lost heavy weapons or is this false propaganda at its max.......
ReplyDeletebecos ur eailier posts didnt have any news abt this
pls update us
kiri
ReplyDelete"I kindly ask everyone to stop making wild accusations if you can't substantiate it with some supporting evidence."
Sorry i couldnt record the conversation between Mahinda & Gotabaya.I'll try to do this next time.
This whole blog is meant for discussion. i have my opnions you have yours.My opnion was made up of these factors,
the objective of the operation,
The significance of the day the operation was launched,
number of casualties,
opinion of independent observers,analysts(defencenet,defencewire,dailry mirror defence column),
similarity with the muhamali operation launched last year
you may look at these facts and come up with a different view, that is your perogative but i will not stop writing my views on this blog.
DefenceNet..when you have the time...has the LTTE attacked a STF base in ampare?
ReplyDeleteSL-French intelligence network to bust LTTE international ops.
ReplyDeleteTop level French
intellgence team due here.
Will have discussions with local
counterparts.
Joint action to tackle terrorist funding, arms smuggling.
Will crack down on LTTE in France.
By Sunil Jayasiri
http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/11/09/front/01.asp
In a move to crack down on heightened LTTE activity in France, a top level French intelligence team is expected here next week -- to establish a network between the two countries to tackle terrorist funding and arms smuggling.
OK Guys... We did a mistake... I'm sure will learn from it.
ReplyDeleteLet's keep the support going and avoid the mistakes.
No one criticise when things go very well.
It's easy you and me to discuss and make the accusations.
But if we look at the overall performance we are in much better position compared to last what ever the time.
Let's move forward and avoid these kind of errors.
Below story is all over the web...
Vanni Battle
May the triple gem bless all our soldiers.
Good luck with the new mission Boys / Girls...
Tangara..we are witnessing something historic at the moment..hopefully real cooperation between SLanka and a member of the EEC.I hope we can establish very productive relations with them....
ReplyDeleteDefenceNet,
ReplyDeleteThe SLAF launched a massive attack against Swarnam's bunker last year. We haven't heard of him since.
Do you or anyone else have any idea about his fate?
I am just living upto my name, guys!
Strange why our puppets cannot keep the mouths shut on these events.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/11/09/front/01.asp
No need to bring these events to public.
Perein this info is all over the news...in france as well i am sure
ReplyDeleteLTTE political member succumbs to wounds.
ReplyDeletenemesis
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info.
I have had the opportunity to meet and shoot with many snipers in our military (in competitions)and their abilities are second to none. Why doesnt the military deploy about 5 top snipers to take out one LTTE er a day each. after a week or two the ltte would have to pull back or risk loosing troops on the front line.
one of the primary reasons we lost elephant pass is because the LTTE used our own 81mm mortars which we loaded onto their ship every day on our troops and the casualties we sustained everyday was unbearable.
we can do the same with a hand full of snipers. just an idea.
LTTE cadres in yala..how many more poor farmers are going to die?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.independentsl.com/cgi-bin/newsscript1.cgi?record=2411
Lat: 9°38'17.05"N
ReplyDeleteLon: 80°17'49.59"E
Are these the coordinates for Muhamalai? can be seen on google earth.
hemantha.
ReplyDelete"I think defencenet is using the term "politics" in a more general way. I guess he is referring to internal politics in the military (I am not sure what defencewire meant by that). You see, when there is some back stabbing occurs in our workplaces we call it "politics"."
Exactly. Whenever the word 'politics' is mentioned it doesnt always have to be associated with the defence secretary or the president. The military itself has a very complex structre.
vibe,
"DefenceNet, I don't understand why you're calling this a blunder. Sure, it could have been better.No SLA casualties but look at the LTTE. They've lost 60 cadres. SLA walked into a mine field and destroyed the LTTE. I would call this a success."
There is a saying "Some defeats are better than victories". But this saying does not apply to this particular operation.
Those excess casualties make all the difference in the world. What ever we say here, the soldiers who took part in the operation now have lower morale (120 injured and 23 dead in 2 hours is an extremely high figure by any standards. if you actually were part of the operation you will know what we mean) and the LTTE cadres are now in a victorious mindset. Do not forget how the Eelam diaspora celebrated it; That's LTTE making money.
If you followed defence news recently, you should have noticed the increase of group based attacks on LTTE front lines at Muhamalai and Kilali. These ops were launched by 55th division soldiers and the LTTE did not have an answer to these except for random artillery strikes. In short these attacks were frustrating the LTTE. Then we dived headfirst into a killing field with thousands of troops and provided LTTE a morale victory. Now the effects those small scale attacks which were carried out by heroic soldiers at the cost of their lives have become useless. We should have capitalized on a strategy which utilized the positives gained from those group based attacks.
We can either interpret this as a victory thinking about the 60 LTTE dead or we can face the reality of the situation, learn from our mistakes and make sure that this isnt repeated in the next offensive.
nemesis, jack,
yes you are correct SLAF does have cluster bombs but they are not used in regularly.
noltte=peace,
"Defencenet, let me know if anything prevented it in Muhammalai.."
The terrain and deployment of LTTE cadres reduced the effectiveness of an air raid. Most of those FDL bunkers could withstand the splash damage from an aerial strike (unless bunker busters were used or the bomb fell right on top of the bunker..but since BBs are not in large supply they are rarely used). Besides LTTE cadres were scattered in the area.
RomeAlphaFoxtrot,
Interesting. We didnt notice that thanks for pointing it out.
Attack is the Best Defence,
"defencenet, did LTTE overrun our bunkers as mentioned in tamilnet and captured thermobarric stuff..... or these r the wepaons that the retreating soldiers left did we lost heavy weapons or is this false propaganda at its max......."
No they did not overrun our bunkers. We didnt lose heavy weapons except for RPG rounds, few Bangalore mortars, one Thermobaric and around 150 hand grenades. But did you notice that LTTE were not able to capture any soldier dead or alive? Retreating forces did not leave behind any of the dead or wounded. Given the circumstances, that kind of bravery is hard to find.
grious,
"The SLAF launched a massive attack against Swarnam's bunker last year. We haven't heard of him since.
Do you or anyone else have any idea about his fate?"
MI reports indicated that he escaped to Wanni (he was wounded) through jungle routes in Trincomalee. After that it was rumored that he was summoned to Mannar to lead a possible strike against the army.
jonathan,
ReplyDelete"Any idea as to the distance between the two front lines in muhamali?"
It varies. In some places it's as far as 1Km but at some points lines are as close as 300m.
well some member from a political party has told the press that 40 SLA were killed in the operation. This is false the correct figure is 24.
ReplyDeleteI was overjoyed to see that this defence net bloggers are not politically favoured. My thinking motto is always my country first. I don't care anyone, may it be Mahinda or Ranil. We should always think about our mother land's perspective. Those people will come and go, but our nation should go ahead.
ReplyDeleteThe MLRS with "steel rain" ability have cluster bomblets in them, not cluster bombs. Cluster bombs are used by the Air Force.
ReplyDeleteOne full volley of "steel rain" can saturate a huge area of land with overwhelming fire in mere seconds. It is hard to match this kind of destructive performance in short span of time by fighter jets unless it is B-52 heavy bombers.
thanks Defence net,
ReplyDeleteCould you also confirm that
Lat: 9°38'17.05"N
Lon: 80°17'49.59"E
shows Mhuamalai
just an idea,
ReplyDeleteWhy doesn't the Army get hold of show cheap guided anti tank missiles and keep taking out those bunkers.
Thanks GE about bomblet clarification.
ReplyDeleteIt is unwise to invade Wanni now, just maintain the status quo while carrying out LRRP attacks, artilley duels and raids across FDLs, airforce bombings and sinking of LTTE cargo ships. This will cause the LTTE great suffering.
ReplyDeleteStarting a full fledged invasion into Wanni will be very hard on the economy. Even if we do conquer Wanni our troops will be stretched TOO THIN, then the LTTE will carrying out vicious attacks on the thinly spread areas. They have done this before, lets not fall into this trap again. Let the LTTE hang onto the 8% dryzone scrubland that is under their control now, we will conquer it further down the road, not now. First we must strenghten our grip in the East and rebuild it to win the hearts and minds in the region.
The LTTE is desperately waiting for us to make a major error, but MR so far has not made any. This no doubt fustrates the LTTE. Lets keep it that way.
Right now we must concentrate on stronger economic growth and bring down the COL. We can achieve this in 2 years with the right steps. A stronger bigger economy means a bigger revenue for the government, that in turn means a bigger military budget. See the connection? If the COL is brought down, MR will surely win the next election. This can be achieved.
In other words get the economy right and the rest will fall into place.
Something that has not been highlighted...
ReplyDeleteArmy in major recruitment drive
[05-11-2007 3.10pm] The Ministry of Defence has once again launched a major recruitment drive for the Sri Lanka Army.
As the first step, it began a poster campaign in Colombo today (Nov. 05th) to attract the country’s youth. In addition, all Sinhala language newspapers carried a full page advertisement calling for new members to the Army.
more in -
http://lankadissent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2139&Itemid=2
Jonathan
ReplyDeleteWhy use anti tank missiles when we have thermobaric warhead for our RPGs. They are much cheaper too.