Surrendered Tiger cadres say they saw Charles Anthony

• Cornerstone of military success was accurate intelligence

 By Ranga Jayasuriya

On Monday morning , civilians began to pour into the military controlled areas after the security forces punctured a hole in the 12 km long trench cum earth bund of the guerrillas. The breach of the earth bund, well fortified with bunkers built at every 50 meter distance and fitted with medium calibre weapons was a tactical military manoeuvre in its own right.
The cornerstone of the military success was accurate intelligence collected through extensive reconnaissance missions. For weeks, small teams of Special Forces and Commandos conducted surveillance and reconnaissance missions on the 12 km longearth bund constructed by the guerrillas to fend off military advance. A four- man- team of commandos monitored day and night the build- up of the guerilla earth bund . A lone commando, Lance Cpl Gunasekara of the second commando regiment sneaked into the guerrilla held area disguising as a Tamil civilian. Upon his return, during his debriefing he prophesied the exodus when the troops breached the earth bund. The Third Special Force Battalion well versed with Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) operations were also deployed in the reconnaissance mission. Based on intelligence provided by the recon team, troops built a dummy of the LTTE’s trench cum earth bund out of an earth bund captured during a previous operation and conducted extensive rehearsals before the final mission.

Assault

An hour before midnight of Sunday, troops were poised for the assault. A commando regiment was assigned to Puthumathalan and the Special Forces were deployed in Ampalawan Pokkalan, facing the Nanthikandal lagoon. In between the 9 Gamunu Watch and 11 Ceylon Light Infantry battalions were deployed. Under the cover of darkness, troops crossed the lagoon and waited till their comrades took positions. At 2 am, they received the go ahead. 
Heavy fighting flared up as the troops went hunting for the guerrillas well entrenched in their bunkers. The battle continued for 4 hours as Tigers dislodged from the bunkers put up stiff resistance. By sunrise, civilians in the thousands began to head towards the security forces. Aerial footage taken by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle showed Tigers firing at fleeing civilians with a medium calibre weapon. Young Special Forces officer Captain Ajith Gamage, who led the Alpha team fell dead when he was shot by a Tiger cadre mingling with civilians. Four of his comrades who plunged to rescue the young officer met with the same fate. Yet, even in death, they saw a camaraderie which lasted through the military missions in Mavil Aru, Sampur to Vakarai. The valour of the Alpha team deserves a special place in the history of the military operation in the fourth Eelam War. They led the military mission to capture the sluice gates of the Mavil Aru. Capt. Ajith Gamage was the then acting OIC of the Alpha team. They trekked a mine filled river bank in the military mission to capture Sampur and later played a pivotal role in the military mission to liberate Vakarai. 
On the fateful Monday morning, having captured the earth bund, they were pushing deeper into Tiger territory in order to neutralize Tiger cadres firing at civilians. Later in the day, two Tiger cadres wearing explosive jackets exploded themselves killing 17 civilians. As of yesterday, 110,000 civilians have entered government controlled areas since Monday. This brings the total number of civilians in the IDP centres to 200,000. 
An estimated 15,000-20,000 people are still held by the LTTE in the south of Vellamullaivaikkal. Numbers are contentious; however, some military sources yesterday put the figures as high as 50,000. Some weeks back, two local UN workers fleeing the guerrilla held pocket told the military official that there are about 150,000 held in the area. Their estimates appeared to be close to the truth against government figures which earlier put the numbers at 75,000. 
Late last week, the 55 Division which advanced southwards from Puthumathalan linked with the 58 Division. As of yesterday, Commandos and Special Forces have entered a 10 km2 area of Vallaimadam, the last remnant of the guerrilla held territory. Prabhakaran is still holed up there, according to the former LTTE media spokesman Daya Master who surrendered to the security forces along with Geroge Master, who was the translator of the former political commissar of the LTTE, the late Thamilselvan. Military intelligence sources told this newspaper that briefings by surrendered Tiger cadres tallies with this information. One cadre had confessed seeing Charles Anthony, the son of the Tiger chieftain early this week.

300 hardcore Tiger cadres

A military official citing intelligence sources said that Prabhakaran is believed to be left with an estimated 300 hardcore Tiger cadres. According to intelligence briefings two weeks back, an estimated 2000 members of Makkal Paddai had been forced into combat by the LTTE. How many of them have fled to government controlled area with the exodus of civilians is not known. Military officials claim the final phase of the military operation has been complicated by the heavy concentration of civilians in a narrow stretch of land. The troops have been instructed to refrain from using indirect fire. How the military copes with this challenge would decide the nature of peace as well as the Tamil perspective in the post LTTE context.
The government is grappling with new challenges in other spheres as well, most notably the provision of immediate housing and basic amenities for IDPs. The government last week appointed Major General G.S. Chandrasiri as the Competent Authority to oversee IDP Centres. The United Nations have requested access to the registration and screening points of civilians, which the government had not yet granted.
There are other emerging concerns. Military sources say about two thousand, Tiger cadres had been identified among civilians who entered the government controlled area, of them seven hundred cadres have been identified during the first two days. Among them there are 15 senior cadres in the rank of Lt Colonel. Many of them have surrendered, while the rest have been identified while they tried to sneak into government controlled areas amidst civilians.

Basic warfare

Thousands of civilians had been trained in basic warfare by the LTTE in an effort to induct them as members of the civil militia, Makkal Paddai. Makkal Paddai was more to do with rhetoric than any form of effective civilian military mobilization in the latter part of the Eelam war. The members of Makkal Paddai who were deployed in the bunkers to supplement the shortage of regular Tiger combatants had their life expectancy measured by days, if not hours.
However, while these members may not be the ideal in a high intensity war, the same group can be effective in a low intensity war. It was the Makkal Paddai members who were instrumental in a series of claymore mine explosions which rocked the Jaffna peninsula in the immediate aftermath of the election of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Basic military training was made compulsory by the LTTE in its heartland, Therefore, there was no escape from it. However, perhaps most important is the degree of radicalization of cadres. That stands true especially for 2000 Tiger cadres who are identified among civilians. Surrender equals betrayal in the LTTE’s code of conduct, but, it is not always; Kennedy, the hardcore Tiger guerrilla who surrendered in an abortive mission to blow up aircraft at the Pallali Military Headquarters in the late 90s was handed over to the LTTE in a prisoner swap during the peace process. He later went to head a crack LTTE team , which was sent to the East after the split of the former Eastern Commander Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna the current Minister of National reconciliation of Rajapaksa government. Kennedy was later assigned the security of the LTTE’s air assets. 
Therefore, the surrender does not necessarily translate into a break-up of the past loyalties to the LTTE. This poises the challenge of an effective rehabilitation program. However, not every such effort did succeed in the past. Washington Post recently reported quoting CIA officials that 12 per cent of former suspects held at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre went back to Al Qaida, including the current second in command of al Qaida’s Yemeni Branch. These are the problems the government would have to grapple with in the immediate future. Meanwhile, The Hindu newspaper yesterday quoted India’s National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan as saying that President Rajapaksa was “receptive” to Indian concerns about the civilians trapped in the no-fire zone. He was refering to his visit to Colombo. In a statement, Mr. Narayanan said they had conveyed concerns of the Government of India at the evolving situation in the north, especially over the casualties among Tamil civilians as a result of the ongoing operations.
“We also expressed the Government of India’s concerns about the humanitarian situation as a result of nearly hundred thousand Tamil civilians coming out of the conflict zone since early this week. The President of Sri Lanka was receptive to our concerns. We are hopeful of a positive outcome,” The Hindu reported.
As conventional combat was coming to an end, Sri Lanka must invest heavily to transform military gains into a sustainable peace. That requires a concerted program aimed at winning the hearts and minds of the Tamil people through redressing the root course of conflict.
The centre of gravity of insurgencies/terrorism is the people. Unless they are won over, hard gained military gains would be doomed.