ELITE COMMANDOS CAPTURE TWO MORE LTTE CAMPS AND CONSOLIDATE POWER AT 12 FALLEN TIGER GARRISONS

By Walter Jayawardhana

Taking orders from their Commandant DIG Nimal Lewke dressed in jungle fatigues who was personally present at the forefront of the forest fighters, victorious elite commandos of the Special Task force of the Police bagged two more small Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) military garrisons in the thick jungles of the Ampara District, Monday in the besieged Eastern Province of Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, the STF said they were consolidating their power in the already captured 12 LTTE camps since January 4 by a military offensive code named “Niyathai Jaya”- Victory is Certain- in which they discovered that the Tamil separatist group were sustaining their movement by felling illicit timber in forest reserves destroying the environment, killing wild elephants for ivory for smuggling, and growing large plantations of cannabis for drug running following their one time friend, well-wisher and political supporter – the Tamil Nadu forest outlaw Veerappan.

growing large plantations of cannabis for drug running

Koose Muniswamy Veerappan killed 130 people and slaughtered 2000 elephants for ivory. He might have smuggled out tons of sandalwood from the Tamil Nadu forests before he was killed in a Tamil Nadu Special Task Force shoot out just more than two years ago in the thick jungles of the South Indian state, close to the border of Karnataka.

killing wild elephants for ivory for smuggling

 

The LTTE who operated from these Sri Lankan Eastern Province jungle garrisons in contrast killed thousands of people and kidnapped thousands of Tamil children to be trained as child soldiers in those abominable jungle hideouts . Signs are there they felled acres and acres of trees in those virgin forest reserves to raise funds for war.

felling illicit timber in forest reserves destroying the environment

 

Except few carcasses of elephants found dumped in jungle swamps , with tell tale signs of tusk removal the STF could not tell exactly how many elephants they may have killed in those jungles where thousands of wild elephants once roamed. But many Sri Lankans know the famous majestic elephant –Dala Puttuwa- that had two tusks crossing each other in a wild sanctuary and a very favorite target of wild life photographers was a victim of the poaching Tamil Tigers some years ago. At the least few dozen mammoth animals are suspected to have been gunned down by them for precious ivory.

Stanley, Paramananda, Bagyadhi, Janak, Jeevan, Diana, Shashi, Eleththiyan, Eleivan, Aridevan, Madurakavi and Ram were some of the more important camps out of the 12 which were seized by the STF onslaught. On Monday, January 15 two other smaller camps Nalini Base and Camp No 2 were taken in the kanjikudichchi Aru or Lahugala jungles in the ongoing military offensive that is expected to continue until the last camp is captured in the Ampara District. Everywhere what the brave combatants of the STF saw was the poaching ,thievery murderous behaviour and utter disregard for justice practiced by the Tamil Tigers over thousand acres in these lawless wilds.

Their stores were full of stolen food given by world charities for the poorest of the poor Tamil victims of the Tsunami. Even the bunker roofs were covered with sack clothes in which such aid came with the charity logos still intact. A Dutch charity said that the Tigers had equipped their hospital at the Stanley base with stolen equipment taken from their stores meant for refugees. Save the Children Fund said the boats found at one of the overrun camps have been stolen from them. The fact was glaring, that the LTTE was robbing charities to go to war.

There were kennel sized torture chambers in dungeon like darkness for those who tried to escape from forced military training and for those suspected as informers.

There were kennel sized torture chambers in dungeon like darkness for those who tried to escape from forced military training and for those suspected as informers. There were dozens and dozens of motor bicycles kept ready to be used for suicide bombing- the trade mark practice of the Tamil Tigers. There were signs of luxury living like good food, comfortable vehicles and big screen television for the top leaders while the others had to be satisfied with more mundane jungle living. All camps associated with leaders have had 24 hour electricity supplied by generators installed in the jungle. In fact , the STF were able to capture 30 electric generators, and numerous water pumps both fixed and portable.

Various camps have been used for different purposes. For instance LTTE women cadres had been housed at the Diana camp lead by a female Tiger leader Swarna. At the Eleivan camp the LTTE had gathered and maintained documents of intelligence like maps. Intelligence also reveals that the LTTE had used the romantically named Madurakavi-Sweet Poems camp for not so romantic combat training and to torture cadres who were caught trying to escape. The LTTE had maintained a tailor shop at the Janak camp where uniforms were tailored for their cadres.

The Paramananda base had been used by Paramananda Master, the LTTE leader in charge of explosives, who brought death to hundreds of civilians and who manufactured RDX laden suicide jackets -the know how of which that had been transferred to Al Queda in exchange for weapons from Afganistan and other terror centers of the Middle East. The STF recovered a 29" Flatron TV and a DVD player from the Paramananda camp- a luxury in these remote jungles and a way of telling the master a big thank you for creating such havoc all over the world. From other bases used by leaders, STF troops recovered 29" Flatron TVs, generators, Nissan vans, double cab pick up trucks and satellite phones.

The STF said it has discovered “four main storerooms packed with large quantities of tsunami aid including canned food, dry rations, sanitary products, tents, large number of mosquito coils packets and sleeping bags. Almost all LTTE underground bunkers were roofed with sand bags made out of tsunami aid sacks.”

The camps that were run in these jungles were also a real threat to the nearby farming communities. January 2 this year the Tami Tigers kidnapped the mail man and his wife with two others from the nearby Sinhala village of Bakmitiyawa and killed them. More recently an 18 year old student from the school of the same community was kidnapped and up to today he is missing, despite demonstrations against the kidnappers by his fellow students. LTTE atrocities also prevented nearby rice farmers from using the irrigation tank that supplied water to 120,000 acres of farmland.

The STF offensive has become a landmark victory for the Sri Lankan security forces who have vowed to flush out the LTTE from the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. The LTTE has fled without coming for a face to face fight with the STF, only booby trapping their vehicles and buildings. They buried hundreds of land mines before hiding in the jungles unable to put up a fight. Since the government has appealed to surrender, five LTTE cadres have come out of jungles and surrendered so far. Surrender or not this is the worst defeat they have so far faced in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka.