tamilweek.com/news-features

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

Sri Lankan air force planes resuming aerial bombardment of the Muthur region in Trincomalee district on April 26th have in a colossal blunder dropped bombs on Muslim populated areas coming under Government control. At least three people were killed and eight injured in the incident where all victims were Muslims.

Consequent to the suicide bomber attack on Army Commander Lt. Gen Sarath Fonseka the Defence ministry suspended transport to and from tiger controlled areas in the Wanni and also commenced a three – pronged undeclared war in Trincomalee district.

The air force along with the Navy and Army had conducted a three – pronged , coordinated attack on areas coming under Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam control in the Muthur region on April 25th. Two Israeli built K- fir jets and one Ukraine made Mig 27 bomber conducted six sorties from 5. 50 Pm to 6. 25 pm.

Naval shelling from five Isreali made Dvora gunboats targetting coastal areas went on from 6. 35 to 8. 10 pm on the 25th. Artillery shelling from the Army base at Kuranguppaalam (Monkey Bridge) began at 6. 45 pm and went on intensively till 9.00 pm. Thereafter multi – barrel artillery bombardment continued intermittently till midnight.

Expectations among the civians that the bombing was now over got rudely shattered in the early hours of 26th when K- fir jets from China Bay air force base resumed aerial bombardment again. Both the Sampur jetty in LTTE controlled area and Muthur jetty in GOSL controlled area suffered hits. At least two uniformed personnel from the Navy were injured.

Bombs also fell on areas extending up to three kilometres from the Muthur Jetty. These are clearly demarcated Government controlled areas and are largely populated by Tamil speaking Muslims.After protests were lodged by Muslims in Muthur to the security authorities the bombing ceased.

One area affected badly was the Muslim settlement called Dharga Nagar. A Muslim Moulavi or Mullah Junaideen Mohammed was killed on the spot. His injured wife Akram Mulfikha (25) and sister Munira Junaideen (18) died after being admitted to Trincomalee hospital. Another seven injured persons from Muthur are receiving treatment there.

While the Navy transported the injured Muslim people from GOSL controled Muthur to Trinco in their gun boats assistance to injured Tamil civilians from LTTE controlled areas in the Muthur division was denied. Though the Red Cross was reportedly engaged in negotiations to get Navy assistance in transporting three seriously injured Tamil civilians to Trinco the defence ministry authorities in Colombo have adamantly refused to help.

According to informed sources at least twelve civilians have been killed and thirty – seven injured in the artillery and aerial bombardment of Muthur areas on April 25th. Around sixty – five people have minor injuries. With Muslim casualties the overall civilian toll has gone up to fifteen civilians killed and forty – four injured.

One of the biggest problems is the lack of adequate medical facilities to treat the injured. The Sampur clinic is ill – equipped to handle a tragedy of this proportion.

Three Tamil civilians requiring urgent surgery are still in Sampoor as the security authorities are refusing to transport the Tamil victims to Trincomalee hospital.Sampoor clinic does not have adequate surgical facilities.

Also some of the victims had died because of bleeding caused by the wounds. If proper medical help was available their lives may have been saved.

Five bodies have been identified as belonging to K. Meiyan and his two year old son Meiyan Kishanthan, Ms Nagiah Rukmani, Ms Pathiniyan Nagamma and Ms Veerapathiran Pagawathipillai. All were from Sampoor, Muttur east, according to civil sources.

Many areas in the region are virtually a sea of rubble after the intensive attack. Apart from bombs dropped in six different air force sorties at least 80 shells by the Navy and over 160 shells by the Army. Rescue work is currently underway and many of the affected houses, dwellings and other buildings are yet to be cleared. The casualty toll may go up when all the debris and rubble are cleared.

The areas affected are Sampur. Muthur, Senaiyoor, Kadatkaraichenai, Kattaiparichhaan, Iraalkuli, Soodaikkudaa, Ilakkanthai, Santhoshapuram, Paattaalipuram, Koonitheevu and Uppaaru. These villages are in Muthur East and largely adjacent to the coast.

People have fled their homes and sought refuge in the Muthur division interior areas after the attack. Massive displacement has occurred. 43, 158 people from 10, 718 families are currently displaced in Trincomalee district. The bulk of these are from the Muthur region.. A human tragedy may occur if their needs are not met on time.

In a separate development armed Sinhala villagers attacked Tamil residents in Thanga nagar on April 26th.Three Tamil civilians Sivalingam, Jeevarasah and Pathmanathan were hacked to death. Two other Civilians Alagusingam and Yogarajah were taken away by the mob and are presumed to be killed.

Tamils from the village and other Tamil villages in the neighbourhood have fled to LTTE controlled areas in Verugal – Eechilampattru area in Trincomalee district. Nearly 1500 families are reportedly displaced.

People in Trincomalee have heard the reports of shelling and bombing and are extremely worried. A curfew was also imposed in the three Trinco divisions including the town and gravets.

Meanwhile the Government maintains a tough posture.”I f the LTTE continues attacking, there will be coordinated retaliation in the form of defence,” Plan Implementation Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said. “This will continue as long as the LTTE targets the security forces.”

Despite this claim reports from Muthur indicated that actual LTTE positions in the area have not been affected badly. Only some buildings of the Tamil rehabilitation Organization have been hit.The brunt of the undeclared war has been borne by Tamil civilians.

Retired army brigadier Vipul Boteju, told AFP that President Mahinda Rajapakse had little choice but to order limited air strikes after Tuesday’s suicide bombing at army headquarters in Colombo.

“The government had to retaliate, they had to do something. They selected Trincomalee. They are showing we are not willing to simply accept what the Tigers have done to us,” Boteju told AFP on Wednesday.

“Yesterday was to show the world they can hit any place in the country,” said Boteju, who warned however that the LTTE would not simply take the air strikes lying down.

“They will hit something big, maybe overrun an army camp,” he said. “They may go for a big economic target in Colombo. But then afterwards both sides will say, okay, let’s now go for talks in Geneva.”

The Tigers however said they would retaliate if the government continued the attacks; “It is like a war situation in Trincomalee. If the attacks continue, the LTTE will be forced to take military defensive action,” S. Puleedevan, head of the Tigers’ peace secretariat, told Reuters.

” We are in a state of readiness and are awaiting for the instruction from our leadership to respond with a force that will be catastrophically disabling and devastating to the enemy,” said Mr.S.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam commenting on the current situation in Muttur east, in a “Tamilnet” report.

Mr.Elilan said that LTTE has not yet retaliated against the air strike, artillery fire and gunboat attacks by state armed forces. LTTE is keen not to disturb the peace process.

“However we are waiting for the instruction from our leadership,” said Mr.Elilan

Meanwhile Retired air force chief Harry Gunatillake, also told AFP that the Tigers were trying to strengthen their hand before agreeing to further talks in Switzerland.

“They brought the action right to Colombo to get people worried,” he said, referring to the suicide bombing.

“They want to create fear among the people so they can strengthen their position if and when they go back to Geneva,” he said, adding the Tigers had in the past used similar tactics ahead of scheduled peace talks.

If the government made only limited use of air strikes, he said, there was still a chance talks could resume in Switzerland perhaps as soon as May.

But if Tamil civilians were killed in the strikes, he warned, the situation could escalate into a “big conflagration”.

The head of the government body for co-ordinating the shaky peace process in Sri Lanka, Palitha Kohona, said the military response had come after the rebels had fired on army bases in Trincomalee.

“The airforce and naval action is to deter and contain the LTTE from carrying out further provocative attacks,” said Kohona, the Director General of the Peace Secretariat.

But Tamil politician Dharmalingam Sidharthan, himself a former rebel and leader of the PLOTE said the suicide bombing and the government’s immediate retaliation signaled a return to full-scale hostilities.

“You have the LTTE carrying out an attack inside the army camp and the government retaliating with air strikes,” Sidhathan said. “If this is not war, what (else can you) … call it?”

Nandakalyananda Godage, a former deputy foreign secretary, was also downcast.

“They may be talking peace and a negotiated settlement but they don’t want it,” he said, referring to the LTTE.

“The government has allowed them to attack us with impunity. Any other country would have hit back very hard,” said Godage.

“The only option is to ask the United Nations to send a peacekeeping force as they did in Cambodia and Darfur,” he said.

“If the international community doesn’t support us we will have a bloodbath.”

Swedish Major-General Ulf Henricsson, who heads the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) that oversees the truce, said if air strikes continued, peace talks would become difficult. The worst case scenario was a return to war, he said.

“We still have a valid ceasefire agreement. No party has ended it, but of course it is not a ceasefire right now,” he told Reuters

Whatever the pros and cons of differing viewpoints the actual position is that the Sri Lankan Government has launched an undeclared war for the avowed purpose of teaching a lesson to the LTTE. This is done both as an act of vengeance as well as to show the South the Government is tough.

The ground reality is that innocent civilians are suffering badly. The international community which condemned the LTTE for the attack on Gen Sarath Fonseka must with equal vehemence condemn the Government action of targetting innocent civilians in a horrendous three – pronged bombing and shelling campaign.

Even if the tigers provoked the state the wilful targetting of civilians by the security forces cannot be condoned. It is time for the International community to give priority to the plight of innocent civilians above the interests of the chief players namely the GOSL and LTTE. If the International community does not act fast not onnly would it be perceived as partisan in Tamil eyes but will also precipitate the eruption of a full – scale war. [transCurrents.com]

Contact DBS Jeyaraj : djeyaraj2005@yahoo.com

by B. Raman

(“The LTTE has still much bite left in it as seen by the rapidity and deadly effectiveness with which it has hit back against the Sri Lankan Police, Army and Navy after each incident of reprisal killing by the Government in which their hand is suspected……After the spectacular assassination of Laxman Kadirgamar, the then Foreign Minister, last year, the LTTE has not been able to mount any other spectacular strike in Colombo. Most of its post-November,2005, terrorist strikes have been confined to the Northern and Eastern provinces. Is it due to operational weaknesses on the ground in Colombo or due to fears of further turning international opinion against it by operating in Colombo? It would be difficult to answer this question at present for want of adequate information on this subject”….. Extract from my article dated April 23, 2006, titled “Sri Lanka: The Wounded Tiger”

The LTTE demonstrated its unimpaired capability for planning and mounting a clandestine strike against even the key nerve centres of the Government in Colombo on April 25,2006. A suspected woman suicide bomber, reportedly posing as a pregnant woman needing medical attention, managed to penetrate into a high security area of the army and blew herself up as Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, the Commander of the Sri Lankan Army, was reportedly leaving his office, which is located in front of the army hospital. The Army chief suffered serious abdominal injuries and is in hospital undergoing treatment. Eight people were killed, including some of the bodyguards of the chief.

2. The LTTE has not claimed the responsibility for the attack. It is unlikely to do so since it never claims responsibility for its acts of terrorism. Only the LTTE could have carried out an operation of this type marked by precise intelligence regarding the movements of the chief, an ability to penetrate even highly-guarded areas, precise planning and precise execution by a highly-motivated lone suicide bomber.

3.The LTTE’s targeting of Lt. Gen. Sarath should not be a cause for surprise. It is believed to suspect him to be the author of the covert action plan to keep it bleeding in the Eastern Province with the help of “Col” Karuna, a legendary commander of the LTTE from the Eastern Province, who raised the flag of revolt against Prabhakaran, the LTTE leader, in March,2004, in protest against the alleged discrimination of Eastern Tamils by the organisation’s northern leadership. Lt. Gen. Sarath is an anti-LTTE hardliner, who enjoys the confidence of President Mahinda Rajapakse, and has emerged as one of his key advisers.

4. The LTTE’s attack on the Army Commander came four days after a statement (April 21) made by Lt. Gen. Sarath in which he was quoted as saying: “If the LTTE do not participate in peace talks and continue their provocative acts, the army will have no other option other than to retaliate. There is no connection, whatsoever, with the recent killings in North and East and the army. It is the LTTE who are doing these ruthless killings. These killings are mercilessly done by the LTTE. The LTTE are forcing us for war. We will not allow this war to begin. The people of Sri Lanka are longing for peace. We too are desirous of the same.”

5. There is no reason to believe that the LTTE attack on him was provoked by this statement. He has been a marked man of the LTTE even earlier because of his suspected role as the chief co-ordinator of the anti-LTTE covert actions in the Northern and Eastern provinces. The attack on him was partly an act of reprisal terrorism and partly demonstration terrorism. Reprisal for the alleged killings by the Army and Karuna’s men of the supporters and sympathisers of the LTTE in the Eastern Province and demonstration of the LTTE’s continuing capability for precision strikes even in Colombo. It was an attack against supposedly the hardest of the hard targets—-the highly protected army headquarters– and not a soft target.

6. The Government has tactically retaliated through artillery, air and naval strikes on the LTTE positions in the Eastern Province for about five hours on the evening of April 25. The artillery and air strikes were particularly concentrated on the Muttur East area of Tricomalee District. The Government has so far avoided any retaliatory strike in the Northern Province and has projected even the strikes in the Trincomalee District as in retaliation for a naval strike allegedly mounted by the LTTE coinciding with the attack in Colombo. There is so far no credible evidence in support of the Government claim that the LTTE had made a naval strike in Trincomalee at the same time as the attempt to kill the Army Commander in Colombo.

7. The Government has been projecting its retaliatory strikes as tactical in nature, not amounting to a formal end of the cease-fire entered into with the LTTE in February,2002, and a resumption of its war against the LTTE. It remains to be seen how the LTTE reacts to the air strikes. De jure ceasefire and de facto fighting—-that continues to be the ground situation.

8. A retaliatory attack by the LTTE is very likely and it may be in kind against the air and ground assets of the Sri Lankan Air force, including its personnel. The possibilities are of a ground strike against the international airport in Colombo similar to the one launched by the LTTE with devastating effect in July, 2001 or an air-mounted terrorist strike by the microlite aircraft allegedly procured by the LTTE and smuggled into the area controlled by it in 2004. However, a factor inhibiting the use of its aircraft will be the fact that there will be no deniability of the LTTE’s hand if it uses its aircraft. [Source: saag.org]

(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai.)

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

Responding to a suicide bomber attack targeting Army commander Lt. Gen Sarath Fonseka in Colombo on April 25th at noon the Sri Lankan Government launched an undeclared war in the evening against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the Trincomalee district.

In a coordinated operation areas in the Muthur division of Eastern Trincomalee were bombarded by air and shelled from military camps and naval ships.

The Government also suspended all transport to and from tiger controlled areas in the Northern province shutting down entry – exit points in Muhamaalai, Omanthai and Uyilankulam.

The suicide bombing operation in Colombo killed at least eight persons and injured twenty – seven. Among those seriously wounded were Army Commander Sarath Fonseka and his aide de camp Major Priyal Wickremasinghe. Several soldiers were among the dead and injured.

Though the operation had the clear stamp of a tiger attack the LTTE denied responsibility. Some tiger media charged that it was due to internal differences within the army.

With growing resentment in the South at the Government’s perceived impotence the Sinhala public mood was getting increasingly sour. President Mahinda Rajapakse was under great pressure to retaliate effectively. His political allies like the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna wanted him to be tough with the tigers while the Jathika Hela Urumaya was for calling off the ceasefire and declaring open war.

The International community strongly condemned the suicide attack and expressed support to Rajapakse. Yet restraint was urged and appeals were made that Colombo should not resort to formal war.

Against this backdrop the Government decided to launch retaliatory attacks in the form of an undeclared war against the LTTE. Instead of attacking the LTTE headquarters in Kilinochchi operations were launched against tiger positions in the Eastern district of Trincomalee.

The district has been in the throes of a vicious cycle of racial violence since April 7th when Tamil political activist Vanniyasingham Vigneswaran was assassinated by Tamil paramilitaries.

Two Israeli made K – fir bomber jets flew out from China Bay airport and conducted five bombing sorties over the Muthur region of Eastern Trincomalee. The aerial bombing began at 5. 50 pm and went on till 6. 15 pm. After these K- firs had returned to China Bay two Russia made MIG 24 planes flew from Anuradhapura and conducted a sixth prolonged bombing spree at 6. 25 pm.

At 6. 35 pm five Israeli built Dvora gun boats sailed close to the Muthur coast and began shelling coastal areas. This naval shelling went on intermittently yet intensively till 8. 45 pm.About 80 shells were fired from the sea.

The army started its own artillery fire from the Kuranguppaalam or Monket bridge camp towards Muthur at 6. 45 pm. The shelling was consistent but sporadic with short intervals. The shelling was heavy till about 9. pm but continued with less intensity till midnight. Around 150 to 160 shells were fired. Many of the shells fired were deadly multi – barrel artillery shells obtained from Pakistan and China.

Areas like Kattaiparichhaan, Sampoor, Koonitheevu, Kadatkaraichenai, Senaiyoor, Iraalkuli, Ilakkanthai, Paattalipuram, Uppaaru etc were bombed initially and then pounded incessantly by artillery from gunboats and army camp. The Senaiyoor Central College was badly hit with its primary school and laboratory buildings reduced to rubble. Much of the damage was due to aerial bombardment here.

Though casualty figures were not known preliminary reports indicated that at least one family were affected when their house collapsed. A child was reported dead.

Power supply to Muthur was also affected and the region was in total darkness during and after the bombardment.

According to preliminary reports the bombing and shelling had not affected actual LTTE positions in the rehion much. LTTE camps, sea tiger bases and a newly constructed air strip were not damaged. Civilian homes and public buildings had been destroyed.

Preliminary reports stated that despite the intensive bombardment and shelling comparatively few lives were lost or people injured due to two reasons. One was that the people had taken proper precautions and sought secure shelters. The other was that the bombing and shelling was done at random with venomous fury with very little focus on actual targets.

LTTE political Commissar for Trincomalee S. Elilan has inquired from the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission whether the ceasefire was over and war had been declared. The Trinco SLMM had informed him that the security force officials had not responded to the telephone calls and e – mails, faxes sent by them.

SLMM head Ulf Henricsson however has gone on record expressing the hope that the attacks were “limited retaliatory ” measures. Peace secretaria Director – General Palitha Kohona has also “hinted” that these actions would be of a limited nature in interviews to the media.

Colombo also maintains that the retaliation was necessitated by the LTTE attacking Lankan naval craft in Trincomalee. The bombing and shelling is supposed to be retaliatory measures.

Just as few people believe the LTTE statement that they had nothing to do with the Colombo explosion there are few who would grant credibility to these assertions by the Government. Though the LTTE had exploded a bomb in Colombo on April 25th and engaged in some violence in Trincomalee over the past week the tigers had not attacked the navy on Tuesday as alleged by the Government.

It is apparent that the Government launched its undeclared war first by conducting aerial bombardment and supplementing it further by artillery firing from army camp at Monkey Bridge and shelling from Naval boats

Political analysts however were concerned that Sri Lanka was backsliding to an open and fierce war. There were three concerns. Will the armed forces and defence establishment continue these reprisals to the extent of open war becoming inevitable? Will the LTTE angered by these reprisals raise the ante further by conducting more operations that would make the situation deteriorate further? Will rajapakse egged on by the hardliners around him bow down to populist pressure and declare war?

Despite the ceasefire the Country has witnessed an escalating shadow war in the past. Both the LTTE and Tamil paramilitaries assisted by the security forces engaged in that. The suicide bomb attack against Sarath Fonseka is actually a high water mark of the escalating shadow war.

Now it is seeing an undeclared war in the form of action by the army, navy and air force. Civilans are victimised. But neither the Government nor the LTTE have said so far that they are declaring war.Sections of the media on either side of the ethnic divide say that the other side has declared ed war. But both partiese have reiterated that they are committed to the ceasefire still.

It remains to be seen whether this position would change for the worse or the better in the immediate future.

Meanwhile in what seemed a knee – jerk reaction , Defence secretary Gothabhaya Rajapakse clamped down on transport through the Wanni. All transport to and from the LTTE controlled Northern mainland of the Wanni was suspended.

The entry – exit points at Omanthai In Vavuniya district and Uyilankulam in the Mannar district were shut down at 2, 30 pm. The Muhamaalai point in the Jaffna peninsula was closed down at 3. 00 pm. Hundreds of people and vehicles were stranded by the sudden move. Reports indicate that the closure would be temporary.

Recent events have shown that the Country is on the brink of an open, brutal war. Only effective International pressure could pull both sides back from the edge. Norway alone cannot do this. Greater coordinated action from the big players like USA, Japan and more importantly India is required to save the peace in Sri Lanka. [transCurrents.com]

Related: Army chief seriously injured in noon attack by suicide bomber

Contact DBS Jeyaraj : djeyaraj2005@yahoo.com

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

Sri Lankan army commander Lt. Gen Sarath Fonseka sustained serious injuries in a suicide bomber attack on Tuesday April 25th that killed at least eight persons and wounded another twenty – seven. The suicide bomber was a woman pretending to be a pregnant woman.

The attack took place in broad daylight outside the army headquarters within a heavily guarded security precinct. Gen. Fonseka who received abdomen and chest injuries underwent three surgeries and is now pronounced to be in “stable condition”.But he is yet to be declared completely out of danger.

The battle – scarred veteran soldier is regarded as a” hawk” advocating a very hard line against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam organization. Fonseka was in his office at the Army headquarters in Colombo Two or slave Island during the morning. At 1. 30 pm he had left office intending to go home for lunch.

The security convoy had just commenced the journey when a seemingly pregnant woman standing outside the military hospital ran towards his vehicle.One of Fonseka’s bodyguards accompanying the vehicle on a motor cycle had seen her and tried to stop her by kicking out.

An explosion then occurred hitting Fonseka’s and other vehicles in the convoy. The time was 1.35 pm. All eight of Fonseka’s motor cycle escort rider cum bodyguards were injured. So too was the army chief’s aide de camp Major. Priyal Wickramasinghe.

“I saw a fireball as I came out of my saloon,’’ S.A. Weerasinghe, told “the Hindu” newspaper. Weerasinghe works in the military saloon, which is also inside the sprawling complex.

Security forces then cordoned off the area and took the affected persons into the military hospital. At least four were pronounced dead upon admission. Thereafter at least ten ambulances arrived and took the seriously wounded persons to the National Hospital in Colombo 8 or Borella.

Speedy attention was shown in the case of the army commander..Under the direction of National hospital director Dr. Hector Weerasinghe a team of doctors attended to Sarath Fonseka. This included apart from the regular staff , ten additional surgeons. Fonseka had received injuries to his chest and abdomen.His lungs were pierced too. Fonseka was suffering from heavy internal haemorrage and was in critical condition. Surgery on him began at 2.00 pm.It was a very delicate situation as bleeding had not stopped fully.

Surgery in two phases was performed within a period of three hours. At one point Fonseka suffered a cardiac arrest and was thought a “goner”. But the tough Southerner from Ambalangoda fought death and clung on to life tenaciously. Hospital authorities said that the army commander’s health improved miraculously and that his condition was now stable. Yet he is not firmly pronounced out of danger. Fonseka is unconscious still.

Thirteen army men including Fonseka were admitted to the national hospital. Of these sgt. WAN Priyantha was found to be dead upon arrival. Sgt. Major Lasanthakumara had serious eye injuries and was later transferred to the eye hospital at 3. 30 pm.

Among the eleven officers in the national hospital three including the commander are in the intensive care unit.One has serious head injuries and the other heavy internal bleeding.The other eight are in ward 72. Two of them have serious injuries. Other injured persons are at present in the military hospital.

Those receiving treatment at the national hospital include the army commander’s ADC Maj, Wickremasinghe, Lance coroporals Jayasekera and Seneviratne. Woman sgt. Sithara Gunatilleke is also warded. Among army personnel confirmed to be dead are Sgt. Priyanka, Corp. Warusawitharne, lance corp OKPD Viraj, Pvt Devasurendra and army civian employee Ms. Niluka Priyangani.

The severed , disfigured head of the woman was found lying many yards away after the incident. Her legs were also recovered. The rest of the body was totally shattered.

According to official sources the woman had come to the military hospital for ante – natal tests relating to pregnancy. The military hospital is situated within the same security precincts where the army headquarters is in. It is well – fortified and tightly guarded. The military hospital caters to the needs of soldiers and their families.

Tuesdays was special maternity clinic day for those with concerns about pregnancy. . According to Police sources the woman had come the previous Tuesday (18th) and attended a seminar on pregnancy. She had then registered for tests the following Tuesday. She was accompanied by a man claiming to be her husband and a soldier. Her papers were in order.

A military bus is also made available on these days to take patients to their destinations. The woman was standing outside the hospital seemingly waiting for this bus. The man who had come with her in the morning was now missing. It is said that Fonseka always went home for lunch at 1. 30 pm sharp whenever he was in Colombo.

Even as the army commander started out for home to have lunch the woman had rushed towards the vehicle from its left side. Fonseka was in the right side rear seat of the vehicle. An alert bodyguard on a motor cycle had seen her and kicked out. The woman then detonated herself. It is said that Fonseka survived the attack due to this brave soldier receiving a direct hit. At least five of Fonseka’s bodyguards have been killed.

The national hospital was teeming with people after hearing of the army commander being admitted there. Additional troops were deployed to preserve law and order. Movement of people and staff was restricted. Restive crowds were anxious about Sarath Fonseka’s condition. People began dispersing only after Dr, Hector Weerasinghe announced at 5. 45 pm that the army chief’s condition was now stable.

Apart from the family members and close relatives of the army commander cabinet ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva, AHM Fowzie, Mangala Samaraweera,Rohitha Bogollagama , Defence secretary Gothabhaya Rajapakse, Presidential adviser Ajit Cabraal and former first lady Hema Premadasa etc were also in the hospital. Nimal Siripala who came with his wife gave the slip to waiting journalists by using a side entrance.

One story going around was that Chief of Staff Nanda Mallawaaratchi was also seriously injured. Another story was that the man claiming to be the suicide woman’s husband was also killed in the blast. But these reports were not confirmed and largely rumours.

The suicide attack bearing all the hallmarks of a tiger operation was widely condemned. The USA, India and European Union condemned the attack and expressed support to the Colombo government.

With Indian Premier Manmohan Singh being in Germany seniormost minister and Defence minister Pranap Mukerjee telephoned Mahinda Rajapakse personally. The US state department said it was unfortunate that the LTTE had restarted the war instead of restarting the peace process.

The LTTE however denied that they were responsible. Tiger spokesperson Daya Master disclaimed all responsibility but did not comment further. An LTTE website abroad charged that the explosion was due to internal differences within the armed forces and said the explosion had occurred due to a bomb attached to Fonseka’s vehicle. There were few if any takers for the LTTE denial.

President Mahinda Rajapakse in a televised address to the nation appealed for calm and patience. Stating that he could not be frightened away Rajapakse also warned the LTTE that he and the Country would not bend their knees to terrorism.

A coordinated bombing and shelling operation by the Army. Navy and Airforce was launched as a retaliatory measure in Trincomalee district. The Govt also stopped all transport to and from LTTE controlled areas in the North. The entry – exit points at Muhamalai, Uyilankulam and Omanthai were sealed off.

Rajapakse also met a UNP delegation led by Karu Jayasuriya in the absence of Ranil Wickremasinghe currently in the USA. He asked for full cooperation by the UNP and received such assurance. Political circles were talking of a SLFP – UNP Government being a reality if full scale war commenced. Meanwhile the JVP wanted Rajapakse to be “tough” against the LTTE. The JHU wanted the Govt to call off the ceasefire and declare war.

Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) is a press release issued from Colombo condemned the “suicide bomb attack that took place at the Sri Lankan Army Head Quarters,” and urged the “Sri Lankan Government to equally refrain from any retaliatory actions at this stage and remain committed to the Peace Process.” reported “Tamilnet”.

Excerpts from the statement were said – “The Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission strongly condemns the suicide bomb attack that took place at the Sri Lankan Army Head Quarters in Colombo earlier today resulting in death and injury of both army personnel and civilians. The attack was aimed at Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka who was subsequently rushed to hospital.

The Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission still has limited information about the attack and will for the time being refrain from drawing any immediate conclusions about the possible perpetrators. However we remain at the disposal for the Government of Sri Lanka to assist in making the necessary inquiries.

This attack is yet another serious blow to the Ceasefire Agreement and the Peace Process. It is likely to have very negative effects on the relationship between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers or Tamil Eelam and could jeopardize any possibility for future talks.

The Government armed forces have suffered countless attacks in the last few weeks but have shown restraint and refrained from massive retaliation. We sincerely urge the Sri Lankan Government to equally refrain from any retaliatory actions at this stage and remain committed to the Peace Process.

Almost 300 people have died in attacks and violence this year. More than 150 of those were civilians. War is not an option for this country as it will only bring human misery and death. There is a desperate need for the two Parties to resume talks at all levels if the situation is not to result in a serious conflict that could escalate out of control and lead to war.”  [transCurrents.com]

Realted: Colombo launches undeclared war against LTTE
Contact DBS Jeyaraj : djeyaraj2005@yahoo.com

Government must respond to anti Tamil violence

(New York, April 25, 2006) – The Sri Lankan government has failed to respond adequately to recent attacks by armed groups on ethnic Tamils and their homes and businesses in Sri Lanka’s eastern Trincomalee district, Human Rights Watch said today.

Police and other security forces reportedly stood by as Tamils were attacked on April 12 after an alleged Tamil Tiger bomb at a Trincomalee market killed five persons. Witnesses said that within 15 minutes approximately 100-150 ethnic Sinhalese men armed with clubs and long knives attacked Tamil businesses and homes in Trincomalee town and district. Sri Lankan human rights organizations reported that attacks from April 12 to 16 left at least 20 civilians dead (including seven women), among them Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese. Some 75 persons needed hospital attention for injuries.  
 
“The failure of the security forces in Trincomalee to protect the Tamil population should raise alarm bells at the highest levels of government,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government has a responsibility to protect all Sri Lankans, no matter whether they are Tamil, Muslim or Sinhalese.”  
 
Human Rights Watch called on the government to ensure a prompt, independent and impartial commission of inquiry into the violence and the security forces’ response, with powers to recommend prosecution and compensation.  
 
The attacks destroyed some 100 homes and left more than 3,000 people homeless. According to the Trincomalee chamber of commerce, 32 businesses and shops were damaged, destroyed or looted.  
 
Police and armed forces stood by while the burning and killing occurred, waiting from 45 to 90 minutes before taking action. The alarm bell at the Hatton National Bank reportedly rang for two hours without response, while a policeman reportedly told a security guard at the Bank of Ceylon not to resist intruders.  
 
President Mahinda Rajapakse’s response to the violence has been grossly inadequate. According to media reports, President Rajapakse sent high-ranking security officials and other senior officials to Trincomalee in the days following the reprisal attacks. However, Human Rights Watch is unaware of any strong public statements by the president or direct steps to increase security in the district. Some persons displaced by the violence reportedly did not receive emergency government assistance for four days.  
 
“Given continuing ceasefire violations and rising ethnic tensions, communal violence could spiral out of control unless there is a swift and strong government response,” said Adams. “Yet in the days since mobs began targeting Tamils in Trincomalee for arson and murder, President Rajapakse has taken no decisive action.”  
 
Human Rights Watch said that to bring the perpetrators to justice and to demonstrate to Tamils and others that it is committed to equality under the law, the government should ensure a prompt, independent and impartial commission of inquiry into the violence and the response and behavior of the police and armed forces before, during, and after the incident. The commission, which should have at least one international member to reassure the public of its impartiality, should have powers to recommend prosecution and compensation.  
 
Human Rights Watch also called for the prompt re-establishment of a fully functional Human Rights Commission to provide the necessary monitoring and leadership expected from this body since the outbreak of violence in Trincomalee.

The organization also called on Sri Lankan authorities to improve security in Trincomalee district, particularly for vulnerable populations, and to facilitate greater communication and cooperation among the government and civil society groups, including Tamil, Sinhalese and Muslim organizations. Human Rights Watch repeated its call to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the Tamil Tigers) to end all attacks on civilians. [Source: HRW] - [TamilWeek Apr 23, 2006]

Related: – Anatomy of violence that shocked Trincomalee

- The Buddha statue and Tamil solidarity in Trincomalee

Other: Tamil Canadians and the Human Rights Watch Report

By Dayan Jayatilleka

How many of those who should, actually recall the founding year of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam? Not many, I suspect. It was 1976. Its precursor the Tamil New Tigers was formed in 1972, but the LTTE, the Liberation Tigers, Viduthalai Puligal, was born in 1976.

That makes this year, 2006, the 30th anniversary of the LTTE. If anyone thinks that Mr Prabhakaran is going to let that go uncelebrated by some major, if not historic exercise, he or she does not understand such struggles and movements. This would be the year that Prabhakaran launches his Final War; one that has already been advertised among the Tamil Diaspora.

In a sense that Final War is already underway, but has not been recognised as such because it is in its first phase or ‘movement’: an undeclared, one-sided, War of Attrition, the bleeding to death of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces by a thousand ambushes, almost daily attacks. It is Death by a Thousand Cuts.

Trapped

Sri Lanka is caught in a trap. The CFA prevents the Armed forces from preventing the almost daily ambushes by hitting the Tigers. The international community has the leverage to restrain the Lankan state but not the LTTE. With the state in paralysis, Sinhala ‘ultras’ try to fill the vacuum, but these motley militia target the ethnic ‘Other’ – their ethnic neighbours, the Tamils, and not the Tigers. Mini-pogroms such as Trincomalee reduce the moral high ground occupied by the Sri Lankan side.

Some would think that the way out of this trap is simply to break out of the CFA and go for the Tigers. The problem there is that one really cannot be sure whether we will prevail, or whether the debilitating effect of the last few years under Ranil and Chandrika, compounded by our usual internal fissures at all levels including the military, have weakened us, hollowed us out. Prabhakaran spent the years of the ceasefire, preparing for war, while we spent that same time doing anything but that!

A healthy nationalism is no bad thing but it must be disciplined by a steely grasp of the realities. What we must avoid is an Arab-Israeli scenario of 1967, where we are carried on by the tide of our own rhetoric, into a set-up, and suffer huge losses of men and territory.

Mervyn de Silva often warned in the Lanka Guardian, that the East is our Bosnia, and if he was right, it is important that we not be Milosevic’s Serbia in that scenario. If we play the Serbs, we’ll wind up like them.

Prabhakaran’s Plan

It was of course Lenin and Mao who framed the most crucial of questions in matters of serious political contestation. Lenin’s question ‘Kto Kogo?’ (‘Who-Whom?’) is variously translated as ‘Who gains?’ or ‘Who wins?’ or ‘Who will prevail over whom?’ When applied to Trincomalee and the East, it is evident that the only ones who gain from the anti-Tamil backlash after the LTTE’s provocative bomb blast in the market place are the Tamil Tigers.

Mao Ze Dong posed the query ‘who are our friends? Who are our enemies?’ and when applied to our context it is clear that the LTTE is our main enemy (and Karuna is our friend), while those who strengthen the enemy (and weaken Karuna), as did the Sinhala racist mobs in Trincomalee, are not the friends of the Sri Lankan state but its enemies.

Indeed the Sinhala ultras (the Ku Klux Klan types in Trincomalee as well as the JHU which has just returned to the religious issue) are objectively far more helpful to the Tamil Tigers, than their pet hates, the Southern peacenik NGOs.

‘Above all we must have clarity’, said Lenin. So let us be clear:

Firstly, Prabhakaran is the sole leader of the Tigers, not Balasingham or Thamilchelvan. Secondly, whether or not the Tigers go to Geneva, Prabhakaran is already at war. We do not have a peace process punctuated by outbreaks of armed violence; we have a (one sided) war of attrition, punctuated, if at all, by peace talks or silence.

Thirdly, it will not always be a war of attrition; the scale of the war will change and sooner rather than later Prabhakaran will escalate to a mobile-conventional war – that which the journalists call a full-on or full scale war.

Mr Solheim may think that will not happen as neither side can win militarily, but as long as his friend Mr Balasingham is unable to convince Mr Prabhakaran of that, it is irrelevant and dangerously illusory.

Fourthly, Prabhakaran will aim to make it a short war, modelled on Hitler’s blitzkrieg and Israel’s 6 Day War. He will fight on many fronts simultaneously, and strive primarily for decisive damage to the Sri Lankan forces and secondarily for significant territorial gains which can be frozen when the world community forces a ceasefire, which in turn Colombo will be happy to accept because we would be taking a beating.

Neither Provoked nor Passive

What we must not do is go into that war on a footing that is favourable to him. This means several things: We must not be provoked by his war of attrition into going for civilian targets or permitting Sinhala militias to do so. We must not be provoked into large scale retaliation which will trigger a full-scale war in which he is, at this moment, at an advantage. Nor however must we remain passive and paralysed.

The Sri Lankan armed forces must be re-trained in its battle tactics so that it can hit back hard in self defence when set upon by the Tigers on land or at sea, turning ambushes into counter-ambushes and defeats for the enemy.

In addition, retaliation must take place at the time and place of our choice, against Tiger (not civilian) targets, in Tiger territory, and must go unclaimed. If the Tigers can wage an undeclared war of attrition, the Sri Lankan state has the right of self-defence, bearing in mind though that Prabhakaran will use the opportunity to escalate – something we must be ready for.

The Sri Lankan armed forces must be swiftly strengthened. President Rajapaksa’s impending visit to China must be used for the purpose, sealing a weapons agreement and/or securing an outright grant which will enable us to buy the weapons on the open market.

The president should follow this up with a visit to Russia, which must also focus on security and the struggle against ethnic separatist terrorism. Both Russia and China (especially Russia) manufacture excellent ship-to-ship missiles, which can give an edge to the badly battered Sri Lankan navy.

A high level ministerial delegation must be despatched to Venezuela to sew up an oil deal which will keep fuel prices (and therefore prices in general) stable and supply secure.

Karuna’s Conundrum

The struggle, and therefore the challenge, is not just military but politico-military. There are urgent tasks facing the anti-Tiger forces, the Sri Lankan state and the Tamil resistance. One task faces Karuna, and it is a politico-organisational challenge.

He has rightly decentralised his forces for purposes of guerrilla warfare, but as numerous, counterproductive hits on pro-Tiger civilian (unarmed) targets shows, he has been unable to communicate his political line uniformly to and enforce it among his cadres.

It could be a weakness of C3: command-control-communication. Or there is too much of the early Tiger tactics by the Karuna cadres, which worked for Prabhakaran in the 1970s and ’80s, but will not succeed for Karuna in today’s global and political context where every attack is widely reported by the world media and commented on by the international community.

The other political tasks are those incumbent upon the Sri Lankan state. We simply cannot afford to face the LTTE’s war in a situation where the world community stays unhelpfully neutral. If the Sri Lankan state looks the other way while Sinhalese mobs kill Tamil civilians, then the world community will look the other way similarly, when the Tigers pounce on us! The word must go right down the ranks of the Sri Lankan armed forces and police, that Tamil civilians are off limits and Sinhala mobs are mandatory targets.

Nor can we afford to face Prabhakaran’s war with the world community asking us what reforms we have offered/ on offer for the Tamil people! At present we have a very favourable situation: the Sinhala hardliners have been pushed back by the Sinhala electorate at the recent local government elections, and at the same time the Tigers do not seem interested in talks.

So the Sri Lankan state need not allow either the Tigers or the JVP/JHU to have a veto over a solution to the Tamil ethno-national question.

Unfeasible Federalism vs. Actual Autonomy

Contrary to the utopianism of Sinhala liberals and Tamil democrats, federalism is simply not on. The issue is not whether federalism is desirable or not (personally, I think some form of it is); it is whether it is feasible, given public opinion.

Sri Lanka is a democracy and the electorate has clearly indicated its preference for a unitary, not a federal system. This confirms all the opinion polls conducted by the CPA over the years – there is simply no majority, or anything like it, for federalism. Had the UNP and SLFP cooperated under Chandrika, federalism would have been possible, but the last chance for that was the Mano-Malik dialogue of early 2004.

With the PTOMS, Chandrika joined Ranil in discrediting federalism in the eyes of the people, and public opinion swung, as it has so many times in Israeli (and American) elections. Today public opinion mandates that any settlement has to respect the unitary state, However- and this is vital- it does not mean that the unitary state cannot be stretched.

The UK, Spain, the Philippines, South Africa, Indonesia are all societies in which an explicit federalism is anathema. And yet, these are states in which there is substantial regional autonomy. Britain is of course the classic example.

Douglas Devananda has long proposed concrete measures to upgrade the 13th amendment, most dramatically on TV at the 50th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the SLFP. He was ignored by Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Professor Lakshman Marasinghe has sketched out, a few months back, three options for enhanced devolution within a unitary system. Only the first requires a two thirds majority; the second can be implemented by a simple majority in Parliament while the third requires only presidential fiat. I might add that India can help with legal-constitutional expertise to fully implement the Indo-Lanka accord and the 13th amendment.

With enhanced devolution in place we can declare elections in the North and East and express willingness to negotiate with whosoever is elected. This may be difficult to implement because Prabhakaran may be at (or will go to) all-out war.

Yet, it is far better to face him while he is trying to prevent an election. That is the only path to the moral high ground, which is the only defensible space. It is the terrain from which we can launch a victorious counteroffensive when Prabhakaran launches his Final War in this 30th anniversary year of the founding of his Liberation Tigers with a view to achieving its founding objectives.

If we fight this war as – or allow it to degenerate into – an ethnic (or worse, ethno-religious) war, we shall lose the moral high ground, world opinion and regional support, and therefore the war itself. [Source: Sunday Observer]