tamilweek.com

By D.B.S. Jeyaraj

[transCurrents.com]The latest offensive launched by the Sri Lankan security forces to retake the strategic region of Sampoor in the Muthur division of Trincomalee district entered a new phase after four days of fierce fighting. The Sri Lankan army which advanced three, two and one kilometres respectively on three fronts halted its forward movement after two days and began clearing and consolidating newly acquired territory on the third day.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organization fighting a “defensive” war for the past few days withdrew from entrenched positions on at least one front and was keenly strengthening its defences according to re-demarcated positions on the third day. Though the intensity of fighting had decreased on Wednesday 30th in terms of ground skirmishes both sides continued to exchange artillery and mortar fire.

Despite the comparative “lull” on Aug 30th in fighting due to the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) halting forward movement on ground and the LTTE withdrawing from earlier positions the battle had by no means ended. It seemed certain that the security forces would relentlessly continue advancing towards Sampoor after a “breather” and would not stop until the target region was captured and consolidated. The LTTE strategy for now appeared to be offering stiff resistance in spite of moving backward.

Aug 31st or the fourth day of fighting saw hostilities erupting on a major scale as troops began moving out from two points. The LTTE began resisting fiercely. Though full details were not available at the time of writing this article preliminary reports indicated that fighting was intense and long drawn out.

After days of artillery shelling and aerial bombardment a major three – pronged military offensive was launched in the early hours of Monday August 28th morning.The ground based military thrust was accompanied by aerial bombardment, artillery fire and naval gunboat shelling.

Three advances were made within 30 minutes of each from Mahindapuram, Pachanoor and Thoppoor The first which began at 3.30 am from the Mahindapuram army camp was apparently a “dummy” manouevre intending to distract enemy attention. Soldiers proceeded in virtually the opposite direction of Sampoor towards Poomarathaduchenai. Troops returned to base after intermittent exchanges of fire for about 2 hours.

The first major advance began around 4.00 am from the Pachanoor camp. Troops made their way through Kilathimunai and proceeded in the general direction towards Sampoor.The objective seemed to be that of following a less used dirt road that reaches a point between Senaiyoor South and Nallur north. Senaiyoor is adjacent to Sampoor.

The second major advance began at about 4. 30 am from the army camp at Thoppoor. Troops began moving towards Pallimunai enroute to Sampoor.This road would have taken the troops via Pallikkudiyiruppu to Pattalipuram. Another change of direction from there would take the forces to Senaiyoor. As stated before Senaiyoor is adjacent to Sampoor.

Naval gunboats along the coast of Ilakkanthai began shelling the Muthur East littoral region as troops moved out on land.Ilakkanthai is also adjacent to Sampoor along the coast.

Artillery shells were fired regularly from the camps at Kattaiparichan, Selvanagar and Thoppoor towards the Muthur East hinterland region while artillery fire continued from Mahindapuram towards Poomarathadichenai and its environs.

The Naval base at the Trincomalee harbour and army camp at Monkeys Bridge began firing long range artillery as well as Multi – barrel rocket launchers along the Kottiaar bay towards the Sampoor coast.

Aerial bombardment was also on with Kfirs and Migs flying regular bombing sorties . These planes had been bombing the Tamil majority Muthur East and Eechilampattru – Verugal regions on and off from April 25th onwards.Likewise artillery and rocket fire too had been directed towards Muthur East on many occasions in the past. The region had been a target long before the Maavilaaru crisis erupted.The idea was to bomb and shell the civilians into leaving the region.

Tiger cadres engaged advancing troops in the general area of Thoppoor at the crack of dawn. Fierce fighting ensued for several hours and subsided only in the evening. LTTE fighters also blocked the advance of troops from Pachanoor in the Kilathimunai area.

According to agency reports at least 13 soldiers were killed on the first day.. Many were wounded with 79 being hospitalised. 49 were admitted to Trincomalee and 30 to Polonnaruwa hospitals respectively.

LTTE casualties on the first day were unclear but tiger defence spokesman Irasiah Ilanthiraiyan claimed that they had suffered three dead and five injured. Defence officials claimed that at many more tigers were killed.

Ilanthiraiyan also charged that twenty Tamil civilians were killed and twenty – six seriously injured in aerial bombardment and artillery shelling. With the LTTE controlled Muthur East and Eechilampattru areas being cut off from the rest of the Country the LTTE remains the only source of information about the extent of civilian casualties.

The second day of fighting on Tuesday August 29th saw the armed forces break out at first light from three positions again. Apart from Pachanoor and Thoppoor troops began advancing from the Kattaiparichan camp. This is along the Koddiar bay coast like Sampoor.

Only two villages Senaiyoor and Kadatkaraichenai are between Kattaiparichan and Sampoor.While the army and navy have camps in Kattaiparichan not all areas in the east of the area are under Govt Control. A substantial portion of Kattaiparichan is a virtual no man’s land.

The second days assault also saw the armed forces using a large number of tanks and armoured cars. The ground based advances were accompanied by the “usual suspects” – Aerial bombardment, Artillery fire and Naval gunboat shelling.

The second day saw the LTTE suffering some reversals. On the Pachanoor front the LTTE positions were fortified at a point near a jungle stream. After fierce fighting the tigers retreated across the stream and began engaging in mortar fire. On the Thoppoor front the LTTE managed to restrict the troops from advancing too far beyond Forward Defence lines.

On the third front at Kattaiparichan the armed forces moved across no mans land and began fighting the LTTE near its positions along a bridge. After intense warfare the LTTE retreated behind the bridge. Thereafter artillery exchanges commenced.

The second day’s fighting saw the armed forces losing only about six or seven men. Many were wounded Some succumbed to injuries later. The LTTE suffered heavier losses. At least 18 tigers were killed and 28 injured. Mercifully there seemed to be no civilian casualties.

The third day of strife on Aug 30th saw a marked drop in the intensity of fighting. With the armed forces suspending all attempts to advance on ground the LTTE too did not engage the troops. The army began clearing and consolidating the areas they had gained. Troops began clearing landmines,booby traps etc and constructing bunkers and trenches.

The LTTE did not make any attempt to launch counter attacks. Both sides engaged in sporadic artillery and mortar fire. There were some casualties on either side.Heavy artillery fire from camps or long range fire from Trincomalee coast or aerial bombardment did not take place.

Naval gunboats continued to patrol the Sampoor coast and occasionally shelled the coastal areas.. The navy claimed to have destroyed a tiger boat coming from Verugal off Ilakkanthai. The LTTE has denied it.

Aug 31st or the fourth day saw fighting erupt with a vengeance. Security forces moved out of two positions from the Pachanoor and Kattaiparichan fronts. There was no forward movement from the Thoppoor front.The LTTE began resisting. Both sides engaged in incessant artillery and mortar fire.The LTTE claimed to have destroyed a battle tank on the Pachanoor front.

Artillery and aerial attacks also continued. Though no civilian casualties were reported so far the cumulative aerial and artillery attacks seem to have virtually destroyed 12 villages.

At Kattaiparichan the tigers went back another 500 to 600 metres from their earlier position. Kattaiparichan is about 6 km from Sampoor.It is said that Special Force commandoes have been deployed along the Kattaiparichan front.

In terms of casualties the armed forces reportedly suffered severely on the fourth day.Though concrete details are not available it appeared that the security forces suffered more casualties on the fourth day than in three days of earlier fighting.

After four days of fighting the armed forces seemed to have made some territorial gains. At Kattaiparichan they have advanced about three km . At Pachanoor they have advanced about two km while at Thoppoor the security forces have moved about a km forward. They were in the process of consolidating these gains and seem confident of retaining these despite the setbacks on the fourth day.

Both the security forces and tigers seemed to have lost about 20 to 25 each in the first three days of fighting. The Govt said that more than 90 LTTE have been killed while the tigers say around 60 soldiers have been killed. As far as injured persons are concerned the armed forces figure after three days were in the range of 110 – 125 while the LTTE suffered about 50 to 60 wounded.

Yet reports about the fourth day of fighting indicated that the armed forces had incurred a great deal of casualties.Figures however were not available. Likewise LTTE figures too were not available. The fighting continued even into the night with both sides firing barrage after barrage of artillery and mortar fire. Speculatively both sides may have reached a three digit number in terms of deaths it is felt.

The war afflicted region has undergone severe destruction due to aerial and artillery attacks.With these attacks intensifying Tamil civilians in the region got terrified. .Realising that a major onslaught to capture Sampoor was to be launched frightened civilians began fleeing again. The shelling and bombing expedited this fearful flight.

Many people made it over the river to Batticaloa district. These new arrivals are housed at schools in Kathiraveli and Paatsenai temporarily. .Some other fleeing civilians were not lucky. Even as they tried to cross the Ilankaithurai – Muhathuvaram causeway an aerial attack ensued on Saturday Aug 26th. Two people were killed and five injured. The aerial attack on people at Ilankaithuraimuhathuvaaram made many turn back.

They returned and took up refuge at Pattalipuram. Aerial bombardment on Aug 28th saw a group of civilians being hit at Pattalipuram.. Of the 20 civilians killed and 26 injured on Aug 28th the bulk of casualties was at Pattalipuram.

With hospitals in the area being dysfunctional and transport options restricted it was the LTTE’s medical unit which attended to these victims. Another two wounded civilians died later. It is reported that lack of medical facilities has affected wounded civilians badly.However no further civilan casualties were reported after the first day.

Despite the occasional “lulls” fighting is likely to continue intermittently because the Government intends wresting control of Sampoor on the South of Kottiaar bay from the LTTE.Sampoor is of strategic importance as it affords the LTTE a vantage point to fire long range artillery targetting Trincomalee and China Bay across the Kottiar bay.The tigers have fired artillery quite a few times in the past causing a paralysis of Trincomalee harbour.

Though the fight “formally” commenced on Monday Sampoor has for long remained a prize target of the security forces. Sampoor was consolidated and fortified as a marine base by the LTTE after the ceasefire of Feb 23rd 2002. The opening of new littoral bases and the acquisition of long range artillery by the LTTE added much strategic importance to Sampoor lying on the South of Kottiaar bay.With Trincomalee harbour being only about 13 nautical miles away it is possible to target it effectively from the Sampoor coast. It is also possible to send invading flotillas across.

The new hardline dispensation under Mahinda Rajapakse treated Sampoor as a matter of urgent priority. While Mahinda cooed “peace” like a dove the hawkish clique around him went ahead with plans to retake Sampoor militarily.All pretence was off and the Govt began announcing its intention of retaking Sampoor .Preparations for a military onslaught were underfoot with men and materials being relocated to camps in the Muthur region.

When the four co – chairs of the peace process urged a cessation of conflict President Rajapakse emphasised that Sampoor would have to come under Military control and that a personal guarantee from LTTE chief Velupillai Pirapakaran was necessary.When the LTTE offered to “de – militarise” Sampoor and retain control Rajapakse rejected the proposal. “Do you want me to give Sampoor to the LTTE” he thundered.The days prior to the offensive saw a renewed attack on the Muthur East and Eechilampatru region controlled by the LTTE.

The ceasefire agreement has been observed in the breach by both parties. The Maavilaaru, Muthur, Muhamaalai and Mandaitheevu battles have made a mockery of Sec 1. 2 of the CFA.

1.2 Neither Party shall engage in any offensive military operation. This requires the total cessation of all military action and includes, but is not limited to, such acts as :

a)The firing of direct and indirect weapons, armed raids, ambushes, assassinations, abductions, destruction of civilian or military property, sabotage, suicide missions and activities by deep penetration units;

b) Aerial bombardment:

c) Offensive naval operations

Recent events have proved that this important clause is in tatters now.

If and when the security forces capture and consolidate Sampoor it would be unambiguously clear that Colombo has acted in contravention of the CFA. Already the LTTE is making noises about the consequences of “conquering” Sampoor. But the Rajapakse regime is on a “military” upbeat and will relentlessly push towards Sampoor.The fall of Sampoor could make the LTTE react with a new vehemence. Also a victory at Sampoor could make Colombo go in for more and more operations.

.Sections of the Defence establishment have tried to camouflage the current offensive as a “humanitarian” exercise aimed at re-settling displaced Muslims in Selvanagar and Thoppoor. Others have said that it is a limited strike aiming to spike the LTTE artillery battery at Sampoor.

But Army commander Sarath Fomseka has been frank and forthright. He stated explicitly in an interview that the security forces intended establishing control over Muthur, Kattaiparichan, Thoppoor and Sampoor .When the LTTE launched the Muthur offensive the tigers had for nearly three days dominated the coastal stretch between Muthur and Sampoor on the Southern side of Kottiyaar bay. Now the Govt wants control of the same coastal stretch for security reasons.

Given Sarath Fonseka’s hardline approach there is no doubt that he means what he says. It was Fonseka who refused to dismantle the high security zones in Jaffna as stipulated in the ceasefire. Against that backdrop there is a strong possibility that a high security zone would be established here too.

If everything goes well for Colombo it could bring the entire coastal stretch ranging from Muthur Jetty to Sampoor – Ilakkanthai under its control. Securing the coastline is the only effective way to protect Trincomalee from possible LTTE attacks. In order to retain effective control of the Muthur – Sampoor littoral a substantial portion of its hinterland should be under control too. This means a massive high security zone is needed as in the north.

In Jaffna the Palaly – Myliddy – Kankesanthurai base complex is of key importance to retain control of the peninsula. So a large high security zone encompassing much of Valigamam North AGA division has been created. The people of the area have been expelled and are forbidden to return. LImited access is allowed to attend a few places of worship. For all practical purposes the area has been de-populated of its rightful owners and interlopers in military uniform have taken over in the name of security. It is a brutal form of “ethnic cleansing”.

This is exactly what is likely to happen in Muthur East if and when the army takes over Sampoor. The aerial and artillery attacks have led to most civilians fleeing the coastline. Once the tigers are “routed” there would be no impediment to setting up a high security zone. The Muslim people would be settled in the borders of this high security zone as an effective “buffer”. The Tamil people of the area will have to relocate elsewhere or be permanent refugees.

This conclusion seems inevitable unless the Sinhala people of goodwill and/or the International community is able to restrain “gung ho” Mahinda and his cohorts. If this does not happen the LTTE would try and resist these manouevres. The important question is whether the LTTE will be able to do so successfully notwithstanding pugnacious statements by Trinco political Commissar Elilan and tiger spokesman on defence affairs Ilanthiraiyan.

At present the LTTE is offering stiff resistance with Trincomalee Special commander “Col” Sornam personally overseeing Sampoor defences. Batticaloa special commander “Col” Bhanu is at the Verugal – Vaharai zone attending to logistics and supervising the defence operations there. “Col” Jeyam is in Batticaloa “acting” for Bhanu Supplies to Sampoor are being done through the narrow coastal strip from Verugal to Sampoor. There is also the marine route from Verugal to Sampoor.

The LTTE has not deployed any additional cadres from the North or even used its much feared sea tigers. The tigers have also refrained from using their long range artillery in Sampoor. The LTTE is only fighting with “local” cadres from Trincomalee and Batticaloa. About two brigades of 600 each are in the frontlines. Two other brigades are kept for logistics and as reserves in the Sampoor region.

The security forces are now launching a three – pronged land offensive to secure Sampoor. It appears that only about 1500 – 2000 personnel are involved If they find it difficult to dislodge the tigers in the days to come then Colombo will surely deploy more troops and armaments. This is what happened in Maavilaaru and Muthur. After initial reversals the Govt pumped in more men and materials thereby overwhelming the tigers who were relatively weaker in this respect.

If the pressure increases on any or all of the three fronts opened it could only be a matter of days before the LTTE is compelled to retreat from Sampoor unless additional cadres and armaments are brought in from the North. The chances of getting further reinforcements from Batticaloa – Amparai are slim because the Eastern tigers are not in a position of strength. Besides the Govt can also change track and move in towards Sungankuli – Ilankaithuraimhathuvaaram coastal region from the interior and interdict supply lines from Verugal to Sampoor.

Apart from the non – induction of men and materials from the North another feature of the current fighting is that the LTTE is simply fighting defensively. It has not launched any counter – offensive or even counter – strike . In the early stages of the Maavilaaru confrontation the tigers struck swiftly at Muthur. It would be easy even now for the tigers to launch a counter strike behind enemy lines from places like Iraalkuli, Naavatkudah or Mallikaitheevu. Instead the tigers are fighting only what seems to be a rear guard action.

Sarath Fonseka confidently asserts that Sampoor would fall in the next few days. If the forces pump in more men and materials and continue exerting pressure the Sampoor pappadam may very well crumble. If the LTTE wants to hold on to Sampoor then additional reinforcements from the North are needed. A counter -strike is imperative. Otherwise Sampoor would surely fall in a matter of weeks if not days. A tiger withdrawal would be inevitable.

Contact DBS Jeyaraj : djeyaraj2005@yahoo.com