{"id":96934,"date":"2019-12-27T01:45:08","date_gmt":"2019-12-27T07:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=96934"},"modified":"2019-12-26T18:42:16","modified_gmt":"2019-12-27T01:42:16","slug":"eelam-war-series-3-sri-lankas-admired-innovations-in-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/12\/27\/eelam-war-series-3-sri-lankas-admired-innovations-in-war\/","title":{"rendered":"EELAM WAR SERIES 3: SRI LANKA\u2019S ADMIRED INNOVATIONS IN WAR"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The world watched with\ninterest as Sri Lanka\ndefeated the LTTE in the final Eelam War. Wall Street Journa<\/em>l\nannounced \u2018for all those who argue there no military solution for terrorism, we\nhave two words: Sri Lanka\u2019.\n Washington Times<\/em> editorial of\n25.4.2009 said \u2018Sri Lankans are winning; we should let them finish the job.\nObama administration should mind its own business.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s achievement was\nimmediately recognized. Sri\n Lanka was unanimously granted Dialogue\nPartner status in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in June 2009 .This is\nan important regional group, which pays special attention to terrorism and\nsecurity. Its members are China,\nRussia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,\nTajikistan, and Uzbekistan.\nDialogue Partner status is given to a state which shares its objectives and\nwishes to establish a partnership with the Organization. There was only one\ndialogue partner, Afghanistan,\nbefore the inclusion of Sri Lanka\nand Belarus.\nIndia, Pakistan, Mongolia\nand Iran\nhave observer status. USA\u2019s\nrequest for observer status was rejected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka made several\ninnovations in order to win the war.  The government started a website, “Defence.lk\u201d in order to obtain\npublic support for the war. This website was a great success. It became the\nmost visited Sri Lanka\nwebsite, with\na daily average of 8 to 13 million hits. It\nprovided hourly updates on the progress of the war.  \u2018Defence.lk\u201d was the subject of a MBA research\nproject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri\n Lanka devised a \u2018unique arrangement\u2019 to keep India briefed   on Eelam War IV .A team consisting of Defence Secretary, Secretary to President and Basil Rajapakse was\nformed, by passing the Foreign Ministry.  India was represented by its Foreign secretary, National security adviser and\nDefense secretary.  Gotabhaya Rajapakse\nsaid \u2018We visited India\nmany times, they came here and we discussed many issues. .Lines of\ncommunication were kept open at all times. \nThere was continuous dialogue  \nand the war continued unhindered\u2019.  India is now considering using this\nmodel in its discussion with other nations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The armed forces had to innovate if they\nwished to win the war. In 1983 Sri\n Lanka had created a Special Task Force (STF)\nof hand picked police officers with para military training.  STF is the only paramilitary organization in\nthe world which   has police powers. STF\nofficers were trained \u2018jungle warfare techniques\u2019 and handling infantry weapons.\nThey were given special training in counter insurgency and counter terrorist\noperations. They could combat terrorism and insurgency with minimum casualties.\nThe STF operated in teams of eight or less and could fight in a variety of\nsituations such as built up areas, and close quarter battle.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The STF was effective in Eelam war IV and\nthe LTTE assassinated the head of its training school in order to halt its\noperations.  STF was mainly deployed in\nthe eastern theatre. It destroyed 24 LTTE bases in Kanchikudichchi Aru jungle\nwhile the army went into Thoppigala. .This combined campaign continued till\nThoppigala fell in 2007. In 2009, STF went after the LTTE in Yala and then took\nover the A9 road from Omanthai to Kanagarayakulam via Pulyankulam.  STF also protected the Sinhala villages around\nKebethigollawa.  STF has been recognized\ninternationally. It has trained military teams from Maldives\nand India.  It was one of the few agencies invited for\nsecurity assessment duties at the Olympics at Beijing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting in 2006, non-army service\npersonnel were sent, after training, to hold territory taken by the army,  leaving the army free to go forward.   Air force was sent into the jungles, the\nnavy to the coastal belt along Trincomalee.  \nSTF took over the A9 road from Omanthai. \nCivil Defence Force was sent to several places including Mavil Aru   and also to Nanthikadal lagoon to take over\nas the troops moved ahead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The main tactic used by the LTTE at sea was\nthe \u2018swarm attack\u2019   of 20-25 boats with\n5-6 suicide craft and sophisticated equipment. Each boat had about 15 persons,\nwith each combatant donned in helmet, body amour and carrying a personal\nweapon. Swarms were used to attack isolated naval craft, to escort LTTE craft\ncoming from deep sea carrying ammunitions, and also terrorists moving along the\ncoastline. To counter this, the Navy decided to create its own \u2018swarm\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Navy engineers\ndesigned three types of small, high-speed, heavily armed inshore patrol craft,\nsuitable for operations in different types of sea .These boats were built at\nWelisara where there were rudimentary facilities for boat building. 150 boats\nwere manufactured in three years .It took just 8 days to complete and fully\nequip a single craft. Road engines were also used.  We manufactured these boats through day and\nnight because we needed them quickly . They manufactured more than one hundred\n23 feet long, fibre glass \u2018Arrow\u2019 boats, powered by Japanese 200 horsepower\noutboard motors.They were  equipped\nwith weapons, including cannon and \nautomatic grenade launchers. The boats could operate in varying sea\nconditions.  <\/em> \u2018Arrow\u2019  \nwas very effective in shallow waters where Dvora could not go. There was\nalso a 17 meter long command-cum- fighting boat. All boats were manned by\nhighly trained sailors   from elite\nunits, such as the Special Boat Squadron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2007 the navy was able to launch a flotilla of\nArrow\u201d boats which outnumbered the LTTE boats. When LTTE launched 20 boats,\nthe navy launched 40. It was \u2018swarm against swarm\u2019. The boats operated in\ngroups of four. Squadrons consisting of 25-30 craft were kept at strategically\nimportant locations  Squadrons could be\nshifted from place to place in a very short time. They were combined when\nnecessary and about 60 boats were  \navailable for some battles. These boats used infantry tactics. They went\nin arrowhead formation or in three adjacent columns in single file so as to\nmask their numbers and increase the navy\u2019s element of surprise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier there were long drawn out naval battles,\nsome as long as 12 hours. But with the arrival of these small boats, the\nencounter became shorter.  In 2008 there\nwere only three such encounters. The Sea Tiger capabilities declined\ndramatically with this.   They were not\nallowed to close in on valuable targets. Sri Lanka\u2019s \u2018Small Boats project\u2019\nwas given an unprecedented 6 page write up in the prestigious \u2018Jane’s Navy International\u201d<\/em> in March\n2009.<\/em> Jane\u2019s International\u2019s<\/em>\nmaritime reporterTim Fish noted that the western media had completely ignored this\nproject.  He said that other navies\nshould study the Sri Lanka Navy\u2019s modus operandi, in particular its strategies\nfor defeating a four-dimensional insurgent group, operating on land, air,   surface of the seas and underwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy also created\nOn Board Security Teams (OBST). These were deployed on merchant ships to\nprovide security when the ships transited through dangerous waters. These well\ntrained teams were an effective deterrent against terrorist attack.  Navy authorities said these teams could be\nused to combat modern day piracy. Recently, Sri\n Lanka\u2019s Permanent Representative, Palitha Kohona pointed\nout to the UN Security Council, that the dense shipping lanes south of Sri Lanka had\nbeen free of any piracy in the past 28 years, despite heavy traffic. This was\ndue to the On Board Security Teams.  They\nwere a visible deterrent, they could react immediately to attacks. He said Sri Lanka was\nready to share its expertise and personnel regarding the OBST with the rest of\nthe world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Had the govt ordered an all out war effort, ignoring civilian\ncasualties, the war would have been over in February 2009. UN chief Ban Ki Moon\nhad asked why they did not carryout an amphibious assault on the Mullativu\nbeach to conclude the offensive, when he flew over the Vanni battlefield in the\nlast stages of the war. Instead, in the final stages\nof the war, the President ordered a No Fire Zone, in the east where the LTT\u00c9\nwas using the villagers as a massive human shield. .\nAir attacks were prohibited and army was ordered not to use\nheavy guns while LTTE continued to use them. The decision to create a No-fire\nZone was Sri Lanka\u2018s own, innovative decision. International law did not demand\nthis. This No-fire Zone is unique to Sri Lanka. Gotabhaya Rajapakse said\nthat other countries should also follow its example. ( continued)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS The world watched with interest as Sri Lanka defeated the LTTE in the final Eelam War. Wall Street Journal announced \u2018for all those who argue there no military solution for terrorism, we have two words: Sri Lanka\u2019.  Washington Times editorial of 25.4.2009 said \u2018Sri Lankans are winning; we should let them finish the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96934\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}