It has only been a week since several civilians in Thanamalvila village were brutally killed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The same guerilla attack team which exploded a cilivian transport killing 27 are suspected to be behind the attacks. The authorities are worried by the fact that this LTTE unit is still at large in the area. They are now forced hunt down the tiger team in the vast jungle terrain and to take precautionary measures against future attacks at the same time.
A large number of soldiers from the army's Special Forces (SF) brigade, Police Special Task Force (STF) and the Civil Defense Force (CDF) have been deployed to Monaragala area following the attacks. According to our sources the total number of security forces deployed in this area now exceeds 4000. Meanwhile plans have been made to increase the manpower of the Nandimithra Brigade by 2000. Nandimithra Brigade is a part of the CDF which is trained under the direct supervision of SLA Special Forces and Commando regiment. The current manpower of this unit is below 500. Additionally, 1000 more regular CDF personnel too will be recruited from the border villages in Monaragala district.
Meanwhile in the northern front, soldiers from the army's 55th division launched a pre emptive attack on LTTE bunker lines in Jaffna, today at around 2 AM in the morning. 4 LTTE bunkers in the Nagarkovil FDL along with another 20 bunkers surrounding A-9 main road in Muhamalai and Kilali regions were razed to the ground. Since there was no intention of holding on to the bunker lines, troops returned to original positions upon completion of the mission. This area (Nagarkovil/ Muhamalai/ Kilali) is referred to as the "National Front" (Jathika Peramuna) by the army due to its high significance in defense of the Jaffna peninsula.
On Mannar front, 58th division made further advances towards Adampan town center amidst LTTE resistance. Area surrounding the Adampan lake is now under SLA control. 58th division is steadily marching towards the major tiger stronghold of Viduthalaithiv which's fall could seriously affect tigers in the Pooneryn sector.
Long Life, Go ahead ! DefenceNet is there any updates about Thanamalwila hidden attaches ?
ReplyDeleteGood job by the armed forces.
ReplyDeleteThis same LTTE team has now killed 3 cops. 4000+ troops plus police could not still catch the culprits. It looks like this LTTE team is invincible or we are not looking at the right places.
ReplyDeleteGE,
ReplyDelete3 more police have been killed in the same area today.I am no MI guy but some person(s)is protecting these guys.
This is how i decide if an area is secure or not.It is wonderful to get into helicopters and waltz around villages and give speeches (which again does not create life)..but the only time an area becomes safe is if a minister after his wonderful speech is prepared to keep his family in this area at least for a few months.So according to my scale this area is far from secure and more of those poor people are going to die.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling that the LTTE is paying someone to protect them.
ReplyDeleteYes 3 police personnel were killed in Thanamalwila.
ReplyDeleteFrom other thread:
Qurious,
"I don't live in Sri Lanka; please clarify the news item on ITN online-news: Mulathive is within sight"
Lkdood,
"i heard on itn that SLA is close to mulativ (i personally don't think
it is true)"
We are not close to Mullaithiv town if that's what they meant. 59th div is deployed close to the borders of Mullaithiv district. We have to cross the dense forest to reach the LTTE stronghold. So far no major thrust.
Romealphafoxtrot,
"Is the SABF and the RSF the same or different?"
SLAF only has the Regiment Special Forces. The only other airborne unit is in the army. It's the air mobile brigade which is an airborne commando unit.
Nemesis,
"Was SecOps team raised under the then DFI (mid 1990s) ?"
Yes it was.
Chamal,
"If I'm not mistaken I remember they were used to clear the Anuradhapura Air Base after the LTTE attack."
It was army's SF which was used. Regiment Special Forces was not deployed in AAB when tigers attacked.
Renegade,
"defencenet,how do i post photos/videos to the blog?."
Currently the only way of doing that is to upload them to a web storage of choice (Images- Picasaweb preferred, Videos-YouTube preferred) and share the link here.
Chamal,
"Swarnawahini news says 27 LTTE bunkers at Nagarkovil destroyed. Is this true? If this is true, is this the work of the new Mechanized Infantry? It showed some pretty good videos too, with several APC's."
MID was not involved. 55th div carried out the attack.
Raptor, renegade,
"I believe our current fleet of Kfirs is 8 C2's 2 C7's and 2 TC2 trainers. With regard to the MiGs its 7 MiG-27M's and one MiG-23 trainer."
1 Mig27 out of 7 is grounded. We have around 11 gunships (Mi24/35 variants).
Dear DefenceNet,
ReplyDeletelankaradar.com is robbing all your posts.
Why the hell, SLDF can not use little brain to round up these terrorist.
ReplyDeleteWe have,
1. Helicopters
2. GPS devises
3. Enough SF
4. GPS MAPS (even simple googlemap will do)
5. normaly messages is comming to local police with 5 to 10 mins
why cant we round up these terrorists. Do we need 4000 troops to round up these basterds.
This is very sad and a shame!!!!
Look, the LTTE is attacking the south to divert the military's attention to the south from the north, and to show the world that MR and his military are not invincible.
ReplyDeleteIn a nutshell these attacks say "hey! we are still alive and kicking!".
These hit and run attacks are fustrating to us, but it won't win them Eelam and they know it.
Since we plan to capture Wanni we must keep our eye on the ball. Attrition as much as possible before driving into Wanni.
LTTE team carrying our these attack are cowards. Yet, very skillful to evade massive yet apparently ineffective dragnet. They are invisible in this jungle terrain and predominantly sinhala community.
ReplyDeletesrilankan:
ReplyDeleteI am not affiliated with lankaradar. But, you cannot accuse them for robbing. I checked the site after your post. If you see the bottom of each article, the source is mentioned. They mention defencenet as the source for Nandimithra brigade artcle.
GoldenEagle and everyone else:
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if you guys remember but in the Washington DC area, two lunatics with a sniper gun started killing dozen of people. The federal and local governments did EVERYTHING they could to catch these two people. With all the resources and technologies of the FBI/CIA and local law enforcement it took months to catch the two people responsible. This is the price we pay to live in a free society: a bunch of coward terrorists can run around and kill innocent civilians and terrorize everyone. This is all the LTTE scum can now do. They Peelam has now come down t a bunch of lunatics with guns and explosives running around the country killing innocent men, women, and children. With a few more incidents targeting innocent civilians, they are going to loose whatever sympathy they have in the IC and even Louis Arbour will see the irony and hypocrisy of these murders discussing human rights.
Sit tight people. Things could and probably will get ugly. The campaign in the north should not be rushed and must be executed according to plan by the military.
Sooner or later the country will below to ALL peace loving Sri Lankans and the LTTE can create their Peelam in hell, which is where I hear an increasingly large number of LTTE cadres are congregating once their privilege to live in Sri Lanka is taken away by the SLDF.
It's funny how many Tamils are on this blog posting stuff pretending to be concerned Sinhalese. Hopes of Eelam are fading fast, so I guess they don't have much better to do. When the LTTE problem is finally solved, I wouldn't be surprised if expat Tamils do everything they can to undermine the country's growth.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately for them, take away the war, and that growth is going to be spectacular.
There's a report by IANS about how the LTTE's maritime capability is been cripples by international cooperation. It says,
ReplyDelete"The US has set up a container scanning system in Colombo port. And it will be providing maritime radars for the surveillance of the western coast"
If we can prevent the LTTE smuggling in arms from the western coast (i.e. India) they'll be virtually castrated. Nice to see the US helping us out there.
Here's the link to the article btw
ReplyDeletehttp://story.irishsun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/2411cd3571b4f088/id/320145/cs/1/
The army can't afford to have 4000 soldiers, including some of the best trained special forces, looking for 20 terrorists. If so, they will loose their numerical superiority over the LTTE. That is why it is necessary to set-up local civil defence forces modelled along the Israeli lines.
ReplyDelete--Back to the past--
ReplyDeleteLTTE is now use '80s tactics again. After grounding SLA camps with 1000+ soldiers now they attack police posts, kill 2 cops, take 2 T-56s and run into the jungle. We need to understand this does NOT mean LTTE is weak. Compare: SLA now successfully use small group based attack without heavy tanks or any thing ; this doesn't mean SLA is weak rather it's a favarouble stratergy. It is the same reason for LTTE. We should not underestimate enimy. This is the time LTTE is planning another AAB,KAB type attack or attacking Jaffna or Colombo. We should expect it and be prepared.
--Protecting protecters, Thanamalwila and beyond--
I always had the question how to garantee the security of cops on those check points. (But forgot to write.) It is possible LTTE to attack similer check points even in other areas.
--Killing process and killing the process--
Now we are supplied LTTE casualties on daily basis. But we need to understand it is not that LTTE has a fixed number of caders and it is getting reduced to zero so that no tigers exist at some time. When tigers kids get killed in FDLs LTTE recruit more to fill the gap and maintain their man power. Thus we need to concentrate not only killing but akso how stop this recruitment process. Ofcours, if we can kill top 10 tigers in a night things become so easy, but it is highly unlikely. This is some thing miliatary alone can't do and our politicos have a part to play which they always ignore. We need to study John Doily's tactics for this.
BTW, I didn't get any feedback on the sinhalanet report claiming LTTE has AA misiles. If this is the case and if they put down a fighter jet it is likely to send their tin cans into our poorly protected skies for double the propaganda (even though this is risky and even unnecassary for LTTE).
--"Defence related jokes"--
ReplyDelete[From the previous thread.Thanks to the boss and blacklightarrow.]
Have fun.
____________________________________
"Let me straight it up again,
LTTE = Tamils,
Tamils = LTTE"
Boss, you sorta forgot the East, no? Over there its:
TMVP + EPDP + LTTE = Tamils
___________________________________
"Without the existence of tamils there would be no LTTE.
Without the existence of LTTE there would be no tamils left alive."
Yes, of course the first part is right. Without Tamils we wouldn't have an LTTE. But the second part is wrong. If not for the LTTE there would be a lot more Tamils around.
___________________________________
"We see no other choice but to resurrect the ancient tamil kingdom and claim back the land of our predecessors."
Good luck. After 30 years of promises, there's still no kingdom.
___________________________________
thank you Defencenet
ReplyDeleteGuys this sad episode in the south reminds me the slang song "jim pappa". First it would have been edible animals, then the army camp, farmers, passengers, army bus, farmers, civil defence force, police.
ReplyDeleteThen it will be ECONOMIC TARGETS AND POLITICIANS!!!!
It is 4000+ and only one dead tiger!
Although we should encourage the army, etc. we should not be blind to the reality. Imagine the fun in the tiger den!
even after the fire fight the tigers had ESCAPED! This is hillarious.
If the forces suceed in capturing Vanni tigers have avowed to use guerilla tactics. If 4000+ cannot stop them in the south for months, they stand no chance in the north.
I know it is difficult, but I thought the STF were COMMANDOES.
Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka elected chairman IGWG
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNewsDetailView.aspx?ARTID=4518
Political package: More powers for PCs
ReplyDeleteLINK
This is in the Sunday Leader
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thesundayleader.lk/20080120/parliament.HTM
The government has now decided to induct 1000 members from the area into the Civil Defence Force following the attacks.
The presence of Tigers in the area was not a secret. It had been made public when the Tigers attacked the Talgasmankada army detachment inside Yala on October 15 last year. The attackers were believed to be Tiger cadres who had remained in the jungles in the southern parts of the Ampara that border Moneragala, after they were flushed out during government offensives mid last year.
The strength of the Tiger remnants have been put at between 100 to 150, a rather high figure. One member among them fell into the hands of the government forces, ironically near Galge soon after massive searches were launched in the area after the October attacks.
They are believed to be led by Nagesh and possibly Jeyam, two senior eastern Tigers. A body of a female Tiger cadre among those roaming the jungles of Yala and surrounding areas was also recovered sometime back. She was killed in a confrontation with the forces.
Following the troop reinforcements the Tigers were believed to have crossed over to the Kotiyagala jungles that lie north of the Yala boundary. But what last week's attacks suggest is that some of the attackers have again become active, with bloody results, in the jungles that lie closer to villages deep in the Moneragala District.
Defencenet, thanks for the update and reply for my question.
ReplyDeleteI am on the same impulse like andare. Our army is doing a great job in the North; however, the Thanamalvial saga has become an annoying distraction to a professional army.
Three policemen lost their lives today. It looks like we got our calculations completely wrong - the number of terrorists, the groups among them etc.
I think, the coordination among the defence authorities has been not at its best, on this occassion; the policemen got killed and there is so much, in terms of distance, the terrorist can run away in a given space of time; dropping down troops from an air-borne helicopter along an estimated circle is all they have to do, while giving the orders for them to converge to the 'epicentre.
It looks like the troops deployment is done at random spots and it is not going to work. This can grow into a serious distraction, unless addressed urgently.
We heard 'east is liberated' some time ago and we are waiting to hear 'wanni is liberated' too. But what happened to all the tigers? They are no 'last samurais'. Their victory is survival, They will not fight until death rather change their stratergies and adopted to new situation. That's what exactly happened from Thalgasmankada to Thanamalvila. Even in a case where whole wanni is liberated (hopefully after few years) we will have the same problem countrywide. Attacks from 5-10 group tigers from jungles every where. So how to eliminate those 'hidden tigers'? GOSL need to come with effective counter stratergy. Deploying STF/SF in hundreds is not the answer. How can even 1000 commandos can find 2-3 (well trained in gualrilla tactics) tigers in a thousand acres jungle? This is alsmost impossible.
ReplyDeleteWe might need more civilian nvolement.
example 1-In Colombo most if not all the three wheel drivers, bus conducters, beggers, pavement traders should be trained on information gathering and suspicious actvities and people.
example 2-In village areas SLA can use chena cultivaters and those who go inside jungles for whatever purposes for the same thing. This Nandimithra brgade can give ledership to each village in this regard.
(But it is most likely tigers use same tactic specialy involving courrupted officers, money greedy people and those who do illigel activities.)
My people who visited these areas many times in the last decade assume that the jeep drivers, specially the ones that work from the owners’ home are also in the ganja trade, and one disgruntled driver told us that they supplied them to the tourists. These are grown off the beaten track and since they stopped us videoing a area in Yala,we suspected to be tiger sympathizers. These guys who created these killing may have escape route with these touts. looks like the terrorists well sawn up their set up ahead in time. I hope the SF will keep an eye on the Sugar factory that is a life line to the poor. They could also reach the Victoria dam from the ancient horse track that was used by the Europeans that start from the Myanganne Badulla road to teldaniya,close to Victoria dam. This is a remote track that we used for a hike in 1988 and they may have put sleepers along the way on this remote track, which is a shortcut from Kandy to Badulla..
ReplyDeleteIt is a good idea to have few ex SAS officers to advise our defence, might cost a few millions, but worth it. Who knows the illusive tigers may be using a such a tactic? Most of the thoppigala and sampur rebels have come south, dispersed in small numbers in safe houses. We never saw any road blocks between our trip from Manampitiya,near Welikande to long stretch to Myanggana,in 2006,where it took less than 3 hours for us to travel. They may have escaped to Lahugala jungles and kotiagala jungles and some came by sea and landed to the southern most corner of the Yala,close to Katharagama.Ltte has a new strategy of working in small numbers, that would be a reality at the Katu AB,which is I think their number one target. They might even use a foreign expertise for the latter.
ReplyDeleteDestroying abandoned bunkers!
ReplyDeleteIn proverbial terms it goes as 'paalu gei walang bindinawa'(destroying the pots in an abandoned house)!!!
I'm afraid most 'operations' by the SLA, STF, SLN, SLAF against FIGHTING LTTE units have been about CHASING AWAY the tigers than to kill them.
The recent killing (I call it 'harvesting') operations in the North while not mainly targeting bunkers were exceptions.
1. The SLN sunk all siting-duck LTTE ships, but, CHASED AWAY the DELFT, PESALai, etc. sea tiger attackers!!
2. The SLAF attacks 'unarmed tigers' far far away from battlezones and destroys the infrastructure of their bunkers (destroying ammunition stores is good but that happened just once) but RARELY attacks FDLs, mortar positions, supply routes/vehicles/tractors.
3. The most fantastic example is the happenings in the South. Even YALA was opened after chasing away the tigers and killing only one (1) cadre. The chased away tigers kill more and more in different places until they are killed!!!
The govt. escaped bullshiting about the war in the EAST and the north, but now they are shiting as people come to know what really happens.
The universal truth - The govt. troops are STILL fighting a CHASE AWAY war not a war the KILLS the maximum number of terrorists.
wrong?? disagree??
Moshe dyan..
ReplyDelete"If the forces suceed in capturing Vanni tigers have avowed to use guerilla tactics. If 4000+ cannot stop them in the south for months, they stand no chance in the north.
I know it is difficult, but I thought the STF were COMMANDOES"
You really think very high on yourself don't you? Sitting in front of a computer all day long and criticising the troops who put their life on the life each day eh? Do you at least have an idea what they are going thru?
Try to help!Not grumble.
defencenet,
ReplyDeleteit is very sad to see security around the sapugaskanda area.any one can target this oil tanks without any difficulities.please advise what ever the people you know in forces... if something happen to sapugaskanda all our dreams will vanished....mind you we are fighting with worlds no #1 terrerist organization.therfore our colombo security people are very lazy specialy police..damn police.we need to hand over theese placees to SF guys not to these foolish police persenals .....
Moshe Dayan
ReplyDeleteYou seems to be seeing the reality now. Our soldiers been bred in the humble villages and their leaders who take them to the battle, seem to lack the sophistication and determination to tackle our sceaming,cunning and determined foe. This is what the ordinary blue berry pie eating US soldier in Iraq, or even in Vietnam faced. Now they are on the verge of handing over some of the powers to the former Bathis,whom they came to fight, as an exit strtergy.Our problems should be much easier as the livey in the same country. With respect to the new incidents in the south is that the rebels knowing the SF using helicopters gunships and other conventional methods to track them down, they have countered with small number infiltrations, cleverly done over the recent years. Should VP is no more and Vanni is liberated, then their new command post will be in south, but not abroad, because though they have the support of the politicians of those country, but they will not be allowed to remotely conduct affairs from those countries. They will be housed and protected by our own politicians and others of power. We are suspicious of some of our politicians coming too often to these countries and some suspect the rebels, using much of their wealth to buy these guys for future. This not the end, but not even the beginning of the end of our problem. We have sussed out the man who might eventually rescue this island, should he have the right people to back him as his ideas are the only faceable solution, which make it a subject of ridicule at this time.
moshe dyan, aka moda gayan, another ltte supporter, talking about gibberish. Does read posts that were posted earlier in this post about CIA/FBI trying to find 2snipers. It takes a lot to find small groups. Its like trying to find couple of pieces of hair inside a jungle. Go post comments on LNP. Not here.
ReplyDeletethese groups definetly rotate, and there are definetly couple of people who are keeping them safe. Once we find these supporters...well actually im not even going to say whats gong to happen lol..(because I dont know ;) )
ReplyDeleteonecountry,
ReplyDeleteAbout lankaradar.com..i have been a bit enthusiastic..my apologies.However i would like to see the letters in the word DefenceNet in a higher point lets say 14 or 18..not 8 or 10..so the casual reader does NOT MISS the SOURCE.
Kevin,
what can i say.."super" posts there bro.
Lets hope govt is taking this situation very seriously.
As for these terrorists running around in border villages we have to organise this nandimitta brigade(although civilian)under a proper commander first(no ebbas)..because this is essentially a question of having as many spies/lookouts as possible.lets see what happens in future.
illegal.existance,
ReplyDeleteAS for these tamils(EPDP,TMVP,etc etc) they also have to live in a very dangerous environment even overseas with "LTTE mamas visitng them for $$$$ or else their children will be harmed".Dont be surpirsed(when this is over-if that is possible) if the tamils start helping the sinhalese as well as the tamils in SLanka.No i am not speaking about boss because boss is a minority although he pretends otherwise.
Dear friends,
ReplyDeleteNot all critiques are LTTE supporters; this is govt/SLFP rhetoric.
I do not think of myself big; nor do i complain unneccesarily; i'm not a LTTE supporter either; i'm with you.
BUT I had enough of listening to govt. propoganda war fought with 3 brothers and not allowing anyone else to review what the hell they are doing. I, like you finance the war which costs USD 1.5 billion this year and we fought for 25 fukcing years with nothing. in todays terms that is about $1,875 paid by each for war. therefore i and all other 'armchair defence analysts' and people have a fking right to know what the heck the soldiers are doing.
You know very well that the EASTERN liberation was all about chasing away the tigers.
Lets not be blind to the reality and expect the war to end ever if this is what the STF, etc are doing/ not doing.
The STF or whoever must be paddled to the metel to deliver the goods; else there WILL be more killings in the south. This is like a nasty joke. Soon people will start to move and that is a IDP issue and all hell will break lose in the south unless all these tigers are killed. If you have friends/relatives in moneragala you will know what exactly is going on. I do not want to be a rumour monger; but the picture is so far pretty BAD for civilians.
Please be realistic and dont clap for everything.
I do not intend to sound nasty and i do not want to hurt anyone
I appreciate KEVIN's insightful thoughts. Please friends I ask you to be realistic; i'm on your side.
srilankan,
ReplyDelete"Dear DefenceNet,
lankaradar.com is robbing all your posts."
Thanks for the heads up. But they seem tom ention the source.
Anyway all DefenceNet posts are free-to-copy (unless they are twisted to show a different account of the story). Even if they do copy it's good because then our message will reach a larger audience.
moshe dyan,
"Destroying abandoned bunkers!
In proverbial terms it goes as 'paalu gei walang bindinawa'(destroying the pots in an abandoned house)!!!
I'm afraid most 'operations' by the SLA, STF, SLN, SLAF against FIGHTING LTTE units have been about CHASING AWAY the tigers than to kill them."
It is not simply a matter of destroying abandoned bunkers. In fact LTTE did suffer casualties in this op (about 15 kia). Above all, the destruction disrupts the stability of their FDL which can come handy in a future operation. You cannot crush the FDLs and kill 500 tigers everyday. If it works that way then we would have already won.
sl and others,
"and there are definetly couple of people who are keeping them safe."
It's speculated that these tigers get help from people who are involved in illegal activities within the forest. In return they get paid or get help int their smuggling activities
Dear DefenceNet:
ReplyDeleteThanks for your input.
Thank you DefenceNet for your input.
ReplyDeleteBut don't you agree that much more can be done by the SLAF in these attacks to kill more terrorists in the battlefield?
Apart from the SLAF attck recently in Mannar north that supposedly destroyed a LTTE 122mm gun, not many such sorties were carried out; am I wrong?
Also you may agree that the SLN almost always tried to chase away tigers than kill them fully??
And why did we open Yala again and the operation abandoned knowing fully well that there were more than one tiger inside the southern jungles?
DefenceNet would agree that we will have to fight jungle/guerilla warfare after capturing Vanni. We must be able to beat them in this warfare. So far we have failed in the south. We failed in the north in the 80s. We must accept the reality and do something about the reality to change it so that we can beat the LTTE in the final battles.
Not everyting the SLA, etc. does is effective; otherwise there would be no war by now. It is sad that those are covered in propoganda; mo media men are allowed in the north; even iraq/afghanistan/israel-palestine had journos to report better versions of the reality.
Please let us make this an active forum to discuss defence matters objectively as defenceNet intends.
There are no politicians here.
And why did we open Yala again and the operation abandoned knowing fully well that there were more than one tiger inside the southern jungles?
ReplyDeletevery good question there moshe..yes why?..
Can you people post with one account only? It's getting tiring seeing people saying "Oh yeah I feel the same as my other account". Stop wasting time and go back to LNP.
ReplyDeletecan anyone who have the Heroes song which telecast on ITN, upload and give the link???
ReplyDelete"Aayu Rakkantha Aawada"
moshe dyan,
ReplyDelete"
But don't you agree that much more can be done by the SLAF in these attacks to kill more terrorists in the battlefield?"
SLAF does not intentionally stay away from attacks on LTTE positions. Most LTTE bases are well hidden and some are disguised as civilian structures. Therefore you need precise intel to attack these targets. There are certain procedures with such intel. They need to be confirmed by multiple sources. Otherwise it would result it civilian casualties or casualties to own troops (if target is near the FDLs). It is our opinion that SLAF is doing a good job with the limited resources they have.
"
Apart from the SLAF attck recently in Mannar north that supposedly destroyed a LTTE 122mm gun, not many such sorties were carried out; am I wrong?"
Not many on Mannar region but several on Mullaithiv district.
"
Also you may agree that the SLN almost always tried to chase away tigers than kill them fully??"
Again, this is not intentional. SLN has around 50 good patrol craft to defend the entire island. These are thinly spread along the coast. Most of the time they find themselves outnumbers and outgunned by the sea tigers who usually use 15-20 boats along with few suicide crafts. When tigers flee they do that systematically with several crafts keeping the limited number of SLN vessels distracted while the major craft escape. This is not always the case. There have been a number of occasions where the sea tigers were chased and attacked.
"
And why did we open Yala again and the operation abandoned knowing fully well that there were more than one tiger inside the southern jungles?"
Yes this was not a 100% safe thing to do. But then again Yala will never be 100% safe unless soldiers are placed every 10 meters alongside the jungle routes which is unlikely.
"
DefenceNet would agree that we will have to fight jungle/guerilla warfare after capturing Vanni. We must be able to beat them in this warfare. So far we have failed in the south. We failed in the north in the 80s. We must accept the reality and do something about the reality to change it so that we can beat the LTTE in the final battles."
Yes we definitely will have to fight in the jungles. Even if we do crush all their military bases in Vanni, there will always be small pockets of guerrillas that will launch hit and run attacks, either in from jungles or by mingling in with the civilians. The new military leadership has put a step towards right direction by introducing specialized training for even the regular infantry. Jungle warfare is included in this new training process.
And the situation in Vanni (provided that we do capture it and destroy all LTTE bases) will be different to that in Thanamalvila. There will be clearly set up defence lines in Vanni along with military bases and guerrilla attacks will always be expected. What happened/happening in Thanamalvila is the exact opposite of this.
"
Not everyting the SLA, etc. does is effective; otherwise there would be no war by now. It is sad that those are covered in propoganda;"
Of course the SLA is not perfect. There is no perfect army in the world. If we are to learn from our mistake, we need to first admit them. But the propaganda is common to any army in the world it's almost like a de facto standard in warfare. But some media overdo this ultimately misleading the public.
"mo media men are allowed in the north; even iraq/afghanistan/israel-palestine had journos to report better versions of the reality."
Allowing media in the north can be a two faced sword. Most of the foreign media institutions work behind hidden agendas and their reports are not always correct. There has been a number of occasions in the past where media agent have tried to defame the image of the armed forces by blatantly tweaking actual facts.
You do not need to go to the north do prove this.
Recently there was this hype about civilians being racially harassed as checkpoints. Media reporting made it look like security forces personnel were racists who are engaged in ethnic cleansing right from the road blocks. If you live in Sri Lanka you know this is not true and that most of the time you will get a polite "thank you" after the checking is done, regardless of your race.
"Please let us make this an active forum to discuss defence matters objectively as defenceNet intends.
There are no politicians here."
Agreed. This is what and should be just this, DefenceNet is all about.
b#1,
"can anyone who have the Heroes song which telecast on ITN, upload and give the link???"
We are also looking for a video of this song. Please let us know if you find a copy online.
DNet,
ReplyDelete01. Is it impossible Sinhala Koti involve for these attacks???
02. LTTE's main objective is to move troops from North to other districts by using small units. In order to capture 10-50 carders, we are placing more than 4000 troops. Don't we have any other option like "if you trying to kill civilians we will increase SLAF bombing to wanni" ??
Thank you very much DefenceNet; appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteNo further arguments; it is my humble opinion that SLA,SLAf,SLN,STF, etc. can improve provided they are allowed to do it their way without politicians change everything once in every 3 years.
illegalexistance, don't bullshit. now we have a good forum here without boss, navindran and the like!! Please don't go after personalities; lets talk to the point.
A question needs an answer not intimidation.
No bad feelings.
People,
ReplyDeleteAs the environment changes ltte will change it's tactics which is what we are seeing in Buttala and Thanamalvila.
I guess everyone agrees that this is being done to divert attention and resources from current operational lines.
We can't afford that. We have to go the whole hog. I think we need to spread the war to the south with different
strategies and different tactics.
some of these could be...
-strengthen defences where necessary to prevent any further infiltrations to the south.
-More man power needed in terms of defence forces (STF, CDF etc) and use them thinly spread in critical jungle
areas to monitor any movements. Or it could be in the jungles just outside human settlements.
-empower and mobilize the people en masse to create a large civil defence force. The other day I saw on ITN news
people participating in shramadana to clear the road side and garbage filled places to prevent claymore and other bomb threats. For example if people can inspect the road sides that they walk on everyday on their way to work, on other excursions and three wheeler drivers can keep a look out for suspicious activity etc.. I believe these can be done, but the government (or if the government is slumbering we can't ignore our safety, may be some other organisation) must propery initiate and promote this. May be plant mock bombs with 1000 ruppee notes in them. Creative ads can be shown on the TV. Appoint senior and respected civilians as inspectors with certain powers (without pay) People will volunteer. Only the government has to start such procedures.
-Slowly and hopefully as we gain upperhand in the north and terrorists spread thin reminiscent of the early stages of the war where a number of terror outfits fought the SLDF and more among themselves, special forces, STF other elite formations and even specially selected infantry men should be deployed as small groups around the country to counter the different strategies adopted by the terrorists.
Also what do you think if we make this LTTE hit group chase, a public media event and give it live coverage higlighting the brutal civilian massacares and attempt to take it to international media? We can try to get Al Jazeera to broadcast it and that might entice CNN, BBC etc. to do same.
Hope this old geezer sounds really crazy.. I put of lot of effort to achieve that..
moshe dyan,
ReplyDelete"it is my humble opinion that SLA,SLAf,SLN,STF, etc. can improve provided they are allowed to do it their way without politicians change everything once in every 3 years."
Majority of the bloggers will agree with you on this one.
"now we have a good forum here without boss, navindran and the like!!"
Navindran did not post racist comments nor posts with offensive content. His posts were good contributions and such bloggers are always welcome.
also there is an error in our previous article about special forces.
ReplyDeletehttp://defencenet.blogspot.com/2008/01/special-forces-celebrate-21st-birthday.html
3SF was established in 1996, not in 1994 as the article says. This will be corrected soon.
Thanks DefenceNet, a few questions..
ReplyDeleteAbout the Nandimithra Brigade:
1) How long are they trained? 2 months?
I read that CDF members get only two weeks of training. Basic with the T-56 and a few others things. Im sure the Commandos & SF must be training this brigade better.
2) I saw old rusty 12Ga. Single barrel SG's been given to villeges in the area, since we are arming civilians its better to give them non-automatic weapons but do you really think a few 12Ga. SGSG's can change anything?? or is the move to reassure the people?
They should have atleast given some cheap NORINCO reapeaters.
3) How many Bell 206's does the the SLAF have in active service?
4) Dont you think its high time the SLAF got some more a Armed light Recon helicopters?
5) Are any of the SLAF skymasters still operational? if so why not use them for surveillance & coastal maritime patrol in non combat areas like the southern command and western command?
LTTEers come here in different costumes. Everybody knows who the "boss" is. But there are some others, whom we may mistakenly think are on our side. The easiest way to identify them is by inspecting the change of their logic of reasoning. If you see step like changes and quick reverses be careful. (Totally agree with illega.existance in this regard).
ReplyDeleteGuys,
ReplyDeleteI have the same feeling that Srilankan has; Singhalese are heavily involved in the atrocities in Thanamalvila.
They may be army deserters or petty criminals - either paid for or trained by the LTTE. They can carry out an attack and then just get absorbed into the community.
Spending patterns, sudden rice in income levels are the factors that must be monitored in suspicious elements.
It was reported that the LTTE nabbed an army informer in Vanni by observing his frequency of eating at restaurants despite being a pauper - at least officially.
Don't be so downbeat about our main goal being blown up. But this is certainly a cross between embarassment and distraction.
When the East was declared 98% cleared, there was a mortar attack on a bunch of ambassadors; the army was humiliated then - especially by the UNP. But General Fonseka, took the criticism on the chin and went ahead until reached his goal.
I am sure, this sad event will not stop him from reaching his ultimate goal - the victory.
[http://www.army.lk/morenews.php?id=10062]
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI hope the authorities are covering all the vital installations in the South against any LTTE attacks...
These attacks in the South by the LTTE is the cover for a major attack somewhere else using the LTTE black tigers.
Please be ready.
Guys,
ReplyDeleteSome of you have expressed your opinions about politicians travelling to stricken-parts by helicopters. They have a very tight rope to walk on, haven't they?
If they don't go, then they will be accused of cowardice or lack of care. If they go, then about free helicopter rides.
I think the other day, MR went to the funerals; that is a good sign of strength. Otherwise, fear-psychosis will take a hold on the society.
Attitudes of people must change as well; when you admire those who are armed - legal or illegal, when you look up to so-called 'the rich' - no matter how ill-gotten that wealth is, neither politicans nor the armed forces cannot change that. Those elements survive any adversory. That is why we can't eliminate the thug phenomenon. If people look down on them as scum<, or at least stop glorifying their strength, battle lines are softened up for the defence authorities to take them on.
For instance, just think about that drug baron who was sentenced to life imprisonment recently. He was living in Ward Place in a modern luxurioos mansion; there may have been admirers of him - and his wealth of course - completely turning a blind eye to how he made that money, showing little interest to know how he became so rich in very short time.
Attitude problem makes things murkier in the down south, that has been made muddy by the incompetence of policing.
Defencenet,
ReplyDeleteCan you please give some details about the confrontation between LTTE & Army in Thanamalwila area?
qurious.. it says a lot about hon president..remeber what he said yesterday..looking to build a "samajaya with no corruption"..what do you think when this problem is sorted?..when this is sorted all the crooks will start going oveseas..Now i dont mond the pres going to reassure people but he needs to keep his word..he seems to have from defencenet's most recent comment..if army has encountered the LTTE then they are looking which is excellent
ReplyDeleteSrilankan,
ReplyDeleteI am quite optimistic, there will be a high moral awareness, once this outfit is wiped out; it breeds hatred, uncertainty, insecurity, corruption, and all the other negative aspects of a civil society, directly or indirectly or at least, it contributes its share of the evil to them. So, politicians will have no choice than getting on to a high moral ground to attract masses.
Guys,
The global economic outlook is pretty gloomy; share values are in free fall. In Europe, people already talk about 1920's, the times of great depression. The knock-on-effect for a country like ours, as its export dependency can be catastrophic.
It is high time we wiped out the Tigers to then prepare for this monster that will stare us in the face very soon.
I am happy to some extent that SSP Goonetilleke is to be sent to Tanamalwila to sort out the problems there, but it is unwise to send a such a talented officer to sort out this minor problem, when a strategic suburb of Mount Lavania needs his talents, importantly he has established himself in the areas. Perhaps his established contacts are vital, so why dislodge him? Where is DIG(former CID) Lionel Goonetilleke? We need him to be overall in charge in that area.I think he is be sidelined for his honest and dedication, get him to the forefront. When corrupt politicians play politics with good enforcement officers, then we compromise the security of the state. This happened to a very dedicated high ranking MI officer attached to a Embassy in the WEST(I wouldn’t say which one for his safety).he made great strides in to their setup, some times spending his own time and money, Alas! In spite of people protesting about his transfer to CBK,he was transferred and replaced with a idiot, who never left his seat.
ReplyDeleteSSP Goonetilleke,if he reads this blog, must use, even a hired helicopter, look for gaja plantations in the deep jungles, then look for tracks, then look for contacts then for any contact of them with tigers. Tigers are in a bad shape now that their ships that offloaded arms were taking ganja to the ever demanding markets in the West. I may say it was the narcotics authorities that may have tracked these ships for us. We can’t even track our own ragtag rebels in our own back yard and how on earth could we track them 1200 KM away from our shoes? We must be grateful for any mercy that befall from the Western world.
ReplyDeletePlease don’t blame the British MPs like Simon Hughes and Gerome Corbin, they are very dedicated and could be said the guardians of the down trodden minorities in UK.I have campaigned with them on various issues in 60s and they are caring MPs and they were caught in a situation, where it is political suicide for them to say otherwise. Terrorists and their Diaspora got to them first and got themselves embedded in their constituancies.Let them shout as loud and bark as possible as their voters expect them to do so.
I am happy to some extent that SSP Goonetilleke is to be sent to Tanamalwila to sort out the problems there, but it is unwise to send a such a talented officer to sort out this minor problem, when a strategic suburb of Mount Lavania needs his talents, importantly he has established himself in the areas. Perhaps his established contacts are vital, so why dislodge him? Where is DIG(former CID) Lionel Goonetilleke? We need him to be overall in charge in that area.I think he is be sidelined for his honest and dedication, get him to the forefront. When corrupt politicians play politics with good enforcement officers, then we compromise the security of the state. This happened to a very dedicated high ranking MI officer attached to a Embassy in the WEST(I wouldn’t say which one for his safety).he made great strides in to their setup, some times spending his own time and money, Alas! In spite of people protesting about his transfer to CBK,he was transferred and replaced with a idiot, who never left his seat.
ReplyDeleteJust out of curiosity how old is everyone here?
ReplyDeleteWhy I ask is that it puts into context some of the comments left on Defencenet. Some of the comments on this site reflect a naive world view which, were it not for the age of the commentor, would be quiet disheartening.