KAMALIKA PIERIS

LTTE was a separatist movement poised to take over the north and east.   By 1986, the LTTE had 25 military bases and many more sub-bases within the Northern Province, in the populated areas of Jaffna and in the thick jungles of Vavuniya, reported Joanne Richard (2014). By 1987, roads approaching these bases had been fitted with hidden use-wires and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) developed by the LTTE inside Jaffna University.

The northern and eastern provinces were divided into five military regions, Jaffna, Mannar, Wanni (Vavuniya, Kilinochchi, and Mullaitivu), Trincomalee, and Batticaloa (including Ampara). Each region was headed by a regional commander chosen by and reporting directly to Prabhakaran.

 LTTE army was modeled on a standing national army. There was a command hierarchy. Prabhakaran was commander in chief, below him there was a deputy commander,   five regional commanders and below them, area commanders, reporting to the regional commanders. The regional commanders were on the central governing committee.   There were specialized units under their own commanders.  

The first fighting units to be created were the ground forces. These fighting units, divided into regiments and brigades, were spread across the five military regions. Each of the major bases was reportedly manned by 60-70 members, while approximately 25-30 members operated from each of the sub-bases.

The LTTE’s ground forces  consisted of  the Kittu artillery brigade,   which was LTTE’s main artillery unit,  the Jeyanthan infantry brigade, the Kutti Sri Mortar
brigade, the Ponnamman mining unit, the Victor Anti-Tank and Armored Unit, the
women’s Malachi and Sothia brigades and  two bodyguard brigades,
Radha and Imran Pandian .In addition there were three elite brigades. They were the Leopard commandos (Chiruthaigal), the fiercest fighting unit in the LTTE,  the Charles Anthony Special Forces and  the Black Tigers, a suicide commando unit, attached to the LTTE’s intelligence wing.

LTTE did not know initially how to create a fighting army, they were shown how by India. The government of India, with the support of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, provided the training through India’s intelligence agency,   RAW (Research and Analysis Wing).

   From August 1983 to May 1987 RAW provided arms, training and monetary support to six Sri Lankan Tamil insurgent groups including the LTTE. 32 camps were set up in India to train these 495 LTTE insurgents, including 90 women who were trained in 10 batches, said Wikipedia.

Camps were held in various parts of India, including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, to train the militants in the use of modern arms. . The first batch of Tigers were trained in Establishment 22 based in Chakrata, Uttarakhand. The second batch, including LTTE intelligence chief Pottu Amman, ^[ trained in Himachal Pradesh.

Eight other batches of LTTE were trained in Tamil Nadu. Kumbarapatti in Kolathur district had the largest LTTE camp. Training was also given at Nainital, Uttarakand. Women soldiers were also trained in India. The first training for females was in 1985 at Dindigul, Sirumalai in Tamilnadu.   Sothiya, after whom a brigade was named, had received her training in Tamilnadu.

LTTE followed the training systems used by conventional national armies. Basic training included military exercises in physical fitness, basic infantry skills and tactics, weapons usage, parade drills and the use of code words and map reading.

Those who successfully completed the basic training went on to advanced training and were assigned to a particular unit, where they learnt a specialized set of skills, involving specific weapons systems, security, intelligence, or administration. In some instances, there was beating of recruits and excessive penalties during training. Punishment was harsh for those trying to escape from LTTE training camps and military units; they went from beatings to death.

Tamilini recalled that she was given arms training in a base in forest area in Mankulam. There was   weapons training, physical drill, also how to interact with civilians and history of the movement. Combat training, which was different to basic weapons training, was much desired, Tamilini recalled.

All cadres were obliged to swear an oath of allegiance to the struggle for Tamil Eelam, and more particularly, to Prabhakaran. Tamilini was told, the foremost duty of a fighter is to follow orders.  We were trained to follow the military chain of command, said Tamilini.

LTTE cadres were given aliases.  When Thamizhini joined the LTTE in 1991 she was given the name Chandrika. ‘We could not use our own names’. She was told from now on the movement is your family.LTTE cadres were  also required to spend time reading and memorizing LTTE literature and viewing LTTE films.

LTTE recruited women. women were  enrolled into LTTE sea Tiger   squads, Black tiger suicide squad,   and regular combat forces.  they were also in the technical teams but they were not in the central committee of the LTTE. The women fighters of LTTE were given much publicity, they helped enhance the image of the LTTE.   The LTTE army did not take young girls under the age of 15 years to the army. They attend schools run by the LTTE. When they are 14 or 15, they   were sent for training.

The first female brigade was named Malathi brigade. This was divided into  political, economic, intelligence and Sea tiger units. Females ranked equally with the males in the sea Tiger brigade said Tamilini.  Sothiya brigade was made a special jungle command unit and given specific jungle training.  The brigade were trained in the Ambakamam forest area of Vanni..  There was a female Leopard brigade, as well.  The female cadres seem to have been well looked after. Tamilini looks well fed and   plump in all the photos in her book, her team also look healthy.

But they were also subject to harsh punishment.  Tamilini recalls that in one instance three female members were executed, for having love affairs outside the LTTE. The execution was carried out   before the full cadres of women fighters, who had been brought there to witness it. Tamilini also observed that    the situation of the female fighters left alive at the  end of war was pitiful. women combatant who survived the war were repeatedly told that they should have died. It was wrong of them to return alive,”  the obvious alternative was to commit suicide.

LTTE also possessed a number of civilian auxiliary units, some participated in battle,
some conducted targeted assassinations, and others  provided non-combat
support. They were Eela Padai (Eela Force), Grama Padai (Rural Force), and
Thunai Padai (Support Force)

 They were made up of both male and female civilians who were given basic military training, physical training, and who were also sometimes trained in casualty evacuation techniques. When the LTTE overran the Elephant Pass military complex in early 2000, these militias were allegedly deployed to collect weapons left behind by the troops and to evacuate the LTTE’s injured cadres.

The Eela Padai was composed of roughly 5,000 civilians who acted as home guards
and who also sometimes ran various LTTE-owned commercial ventures. They were used at helpers to LTTE cadres in border areas, observed  DBS Jeyaraj.. Later, this group, who are believed to have received a monthly salary of 2,500 Rupees from the LTTE, were reportedly used for both offensive and defensive operations in Wanni.

Grama Padai was also made up of roughly 5,000 members and, in common with the Eela
Padai, its members also allegedly fought alongside regular LTTE military units in order to
help resist the SLA’s advances into LTTE dominated territory in the north. Grama Padai members were also involved in LTTE logistics.

The LTTE also had Podians” or civilian helpers.” Podians were sometimes school children or older youth who were summoned by the LTTE, trained in the use of a pistol, and tasked to commit hit-and-run assassinations. Often the targets of these assassinations were fellow Tamils who were opposed to the LTTE’s political work.  Podians also helped in other, more mundane areas, including the dissemination of information, the collection of taxes, and the provision of supplies and shelter to LTTE cadres. (Continued)