{"id":97287,"date":"2020-01-05T01:31:35","date_gmt":"2020-01-05T07:31:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=97287"},"modified":"2020-01-04T18:13:47","modified_gmt":"2020-01-05T01:13:47","slug":"eelam-war-series-8-looking-back-on-eelam-war-iv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/01\/05\/eelam-war-series-8-looking-back-on-eelam-war-iv\/","title":{"rendered":"EELAM WAR SERIES 8. LOOKING BACK ON EELAM WAR IV."},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The\nwest invented the myth that the LTTE could not be defeated. The army took a\ndifferent view. We could have defeated them long before.   We had a well trained, well motivated armed\nforce and our leadership and soldier fighting skills were superior, said\nGotabhaya Rajapakse . In 2006, for the first time ever, the government decided\nthat it was going to win the war. The military seized the opportunity and\ndeveloped a \u2018workable plan\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\narmed forces were enlarged and strengthened. Seniority and protocol were\nignored and key positions given to persons handpicked for their capabilities.\nSalaries were increased and training upgraded. The infantry were trained in\nfirst aid, marksmanship, handling high explosives and in calling in artillery\nsupport and air strikes. Instead of the large formations used in the past, they\nwere trained to fight in small teams of four and eight and to go forward on\ntheir own.  . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\narmy had seasoned veterans who had been fighting the LTTE for years.  .We knew our enemy very well\u201d, said\nGotabhaya. The army .followed an unhurried, step by step strategy in conducting\nthe war.  Initially the army did not go for territory but went for the LTTE itself, killing and injuring\nas many as possible.   LTTE   lost their most experienced fighters and\nalso their morale. Then the army went for territory. The strategies used by the\narmy varied. At Kilinochchi, the army came in through the jungle, taking the\nLTTE by surprise. If the army had attacked the town first the LTTE would have\nmelted into the jungle where they had stockpiled weapons. .  At Nanthikadal the army used a pincer\nmovement which reduced the LTTE territory to 400 square\nmeters.  The cornered LTTE leaders had\ntried to\nhide in marshy land. \u2018Our military plans were superior\u2019 observed the army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Success\nwas due to many factors. There was superb coordination between the .army, navy\nand air force.  They had lacked\ncoordination earlier .Fighting units were allowed to use their initiative .They\ncould coordinate missions with field commanders   and take \u2018clutter free\u2019 decisions.  Pilots selected their targets for\nbombing…Machines which had not been used\neffectively earlier such as the Israeli Kfir aircraft,\nwere utilised to the maximum.  Territory taken by the\narmy was handed over to the other forces to hold, leaving the army free to go\nforward.   Air force was sent into the\njungles, the navy to the coastal belt along Trincomalee. STF took over the A9\nroad from Omanthai.   Civil Defence Force\nwas sent to Mavil Aru and Nanthikadal lagoon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nLTTE fought a cowardly war. Almost every inch of LTTE territory was mined and\nbooby trapped. Mines were designed to ensure that the leg was blasted in such a\nmanner that it was impossible to fit prosthesis to it later.  At Muhamalai, there were 25,000 mines in a\n400 square mile area.  LTTE   also tried to get airborne surveillance\nstopped using the Ceasefire Agreement. They\nbreached the Kalmadukulam tank hoping to drown the advancing troops. Troops climbed trees\nor fled to high ground to escape the sudden gush of water. .LTTE tried to mask\none of their attacks, by craftily used a tape recording of women talking loudly\nand children crying, to give the impression that civilians were passing through\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LTTE   fortifications were intended to trap and\nkill soldiers. Soldiers took up the challenge. LTTE had constructed   embankments 12-15 feet high with ditches 8\n-10 feet deep, with supporting trenches and other defenses on the beaches and\nlagoons from Chundikulam to Pudumattalan. .The army took every one of these\nbunds, attacking from trenches which they dug at night. It was exhausting and\nlaborious work, drinking water every 15 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The navy transformed itself from a ceremonial navy into a fighting\nnavy. Navy commander stated that the Sri Lanka navy had combated the\nLTTE without the destroyers and combat ships used in sea battles. . The oldest\nvessel had been 44 years old and the newest was 19 years old.  Some of the boats carried 30 mm weapons while\nthe normal gun used in sea combat is 75 mm or larger. One of the guns had been\nused in World War II.  Despite this, the\nnavy stood up to the LTTE attacks. It fought 21 major sea battles in 2006, each\nlasting over 12 hours and in some instances over 15 hours. It went after the\neight LTTE   floating arsenals   and\ndestroyed them very successfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The navy improved its aging vessels, through innovation and\ningenuity.  They also constructed their\nown small boats at Welisara and built its own version of the Israeli fast attack\ncraft, in Colombo Dockyard. The navy integrated Bushmaster guns into the\nIsraeli Dvora by themselves. It cost us just the price of the guns; we did not\nhave to pay the price of integration,\u201d \nthe navy fought with fast attack craft (FAC), offshore patrol vessels\n(OPVs) and gun boats operated by the \nSpecial Boat Squadron,(SBS)  and\nthe Rapid Attack Boat Squadron. Both squadrons possessed high levels of\nphysical fitness and training.  The\nnavy\u2019s elite force, the SBS had advanced training in both land and sea warfare.\nIt was used for  surveillance,\nreconnaissance and land strike missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Air force provided\nclose air support continuously during day and night even in unfavorable\nweather. They modified the MiG 27 to carry out night\nraids as well.  Sri Lanka pilots are the only users\nof MiG 27, to do this. The pilots   developed their\nown tactics and manoeuvres.They also used the MI 24 Hind for night\noperations. This too was a manoeuvre not attempt\nby many air forces. The surveillance and intelligence gathering missions of the air force,\n(UAVs, Beechcraft) provided valuable information to the service chiefs and to\nthe front line group commanders. The pictures came direct to them.  The intelligence was very good. . It helped\npilots study each target carefully and decide which type of weapon to use.\nAfter a campaign, the damage was viewed and based on this, they attacked again.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Civil\nDefence Force was upgraded, provided with automatic weapons and deployed very imaginatively.\nTogether with army, CDF was used to provide security from Negombo to\nPanadura   to prevent LTTE attacking Colombo Port and other targets. CDF also watched over the routes used in Colombo by VIPs targeted by LTTE. CDF was\ndeployed day and night on the stretch leading from the airport at Katunayake to\nthe Peliyagoda city limits.  This\nresulted in some useful military detections. . Petty crimes in the areas also\ndeclined a little.  CDF had a special strike\nforce, ‘Nandimithra\u2019, made up of men and women with special commando night\ntraining as well as armed and unarmed combat tactics. They operated in groups\nof four. They were very effective in protecting the villages. They also\nprovided vital information to the police and security forces. .It was the CDF\nthat\nalerted the Air Force about the three propeller driven LTTE aircraft heading\nfor Colombo.\nThey gave information of its movements. (continued)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS The west invented the myth that the LTTE could not be defeated. The army took a different view. We could have defeated them long before.   We had a well trained, well motivated armed force and our leadership and soldier fighting skills were superior, said Gotabhaya Rajapakse . In 2006, for the first time […]<\/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-97287","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\/97287","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=97287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97287\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}