SL Army chief warns India of air attack by LTTE

Chief of Sri Lankan Army Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka warned India that the LTTE could attack Southern India`s economic and civilian targets in aerial strikes.

Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka remarks his comment in an interview having with the Indian News paper today (24).

The Indian government has made it clear that it would not interfere in Sri Lanka`s internal affairs, reiterated that the LTTE is a banned organisation in India, and has only sought assurance for Tamil civilians` safety from the Sri Lankan government.

Sri Lankan Army Chief told the LTTE`s air wing - though its strength has now got depleted following the downing of two of its planes during the recent air attack on Colombo - still has the capability to attack targets in India.

The LTTE and their sympathisers in South India are angry that the Indian government is no longer toeing the LTTE line it is now only talking about the plight of the civilians,` Fonseka was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

They are capable of flying all the way from the north-east of Sri Lanka, attack targets in Colombo (more than 250 km one way) and fly back. They can do the same in India,` he added.

The threat to India seems credible as the Tigers were able to launch an air attack on Colombo even though all their seven airfields have been captured by the Sri Lankan Army in the ongoing offensive.

The Army Chief stated that the rebels` low-flying aircraft, which are difficult to detect, could easily carry out attacks more than 150-170 km inside India.

And if they are on a suicide mission, the aircraft could fly deeper and not come back at all,` he warned.

Asked whether targeting India would be of any use to the LTTE, especially in the wake of heightened criticism for allegedly not letting thousands of displaced Tamil civilians escape the warzone, Fonseka said: `The LTTE had the audacity or were stupid enough to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi on Indian soil. They do not believe in peace or talks. Now they are just confined to around 35 sq km on the main land and some 20 sq km of beach area in Mullaitivu. They are desperate.`

With regard to the whereabouts of LTTE chief V Prabhakaran, the Army Chief believes he is still hiding in Mullaitivu.

Shocking story of forcible recruitment

A group of parents who came to the military on March 27 had revealed a shocking story about a priest, who was living among them in the ‘no fire zone’ in Puthumatalan, and helped the Tamil Tigers to forcibly recruit more than 550 underage children.

According to a mother (whose name cannot be revealed due to security reasons) parents of some 600 children had sent their children to a church located in Walayarmadam, just south of Puthumatalan in order to protect them from the LTTE’s continuing forcible recruitment of underage children and teenagers.

A priest had promised the parents that he would not allow the LTTE to take their children and would take care of them. But on March 24, a large group of LTTE cadres, most of them female cadres had appeared in the area. Soon the parents, who were in the vicinity, had informed the priest about the LTTE’s arrival.

But,he had told the parents to let them come as he would not allow them to take the children away. However when the LTTE cadres entered the premises and ordered the children to go with them the priest had disappeared from the location, leaving the LTTE to do whatever they want.

Several teenagers in the church had tried to attack the LTTE cadres, but some 550 children were forcibly taken away by the Tigers in vehicles. Some fifty teenagers had been able to run away and save their life. Most of the parents had started to attack the LTTE cadres, who in turn had brutally assaulted the parents.

One of the grandmothers, who spoke to the Daily Mirror over the phone, said that she was able to save her 17-year-old grandson after she dragged away one of the female LTTE cadres who tried to capture her grandson. Using the opportunity, the grandson had run away and now the entire family had come to the cleared area.

“The life in the area is like living in hell, the priest is openly helping the LTTE to recruit youth, in the night the priest in LTTE uniform used to go with other LTTE cadres to forcibly recruit youth,” the grieving mother revealed.

She also said that most of those parents are still at the church awaiting the return of their sons and daughters, though they had a chance to escape to the cleared areas.

LTTE planning to evacuate injured senior leaders?

The Navy is on high alert following reports that several top level LTTE leaders who were badly injured in the recent battles, were to be evacuated using the sea route to foreign countries.

Informed ground sources confirmed that already rehearsals are being held in order to carry out this ‘sea operation’. Among the leaders were LTTE senior leader Swarnam, LTTE Leader V. Prabhakaran’s elder son Charles Anthony, special leader Lawrence and several others.

Unconfirmed reports said that the LTTE Spy Chief Pottu Amman and another Intelligence Chief Kapil Amman had been injured in aerial strikes in Puthukuduirippu area recently. Both of them have reportedly received minor injuries.

Twenty-three year- old Charles Anthony has been injured in his shoulder during the breaching of the forward defences of the 58 Division in the north of Iranapalai with some 500 LTTE cadres several weeks ago.

During the same battle another leader Swarnam was also seriously injured and it is learnt that one of his legs had been amputated due to the seriousness of the injuries. Another leader Lawrence too was injured with Swarnam.

During the battle Charles had been evacuated and was receiving treatment in Puthumatalan. However, due to the seriousness of injuries the LTTE chief had reportedly decided to send him overseas for treatment, a top LTTE cadre who was with the LTTE had revealed to the military. He also said that rehearsals are now being conducted on how they could avoid the navy and escape. The Military believe that the recent sea clash off Mullaitivu seas would have been one such rehearsal, where more than 25 LTTE cadres with four boats were destroyed.

On Tuesday LTTE's technical wing Chief S. Kirupakaran alias Madivalahan was confirmed killed following a direct confrontation with the military in the Mullaittivu battlefront.

After his death he had been given a self-styled ‘Lt. Colonel’ status. He was said to be the mastermind and chief coordinator of the LTTE's satellite cum radio communication network

Tigers take 150,000 as civilian shield

The haunted eyes of the grandfather who had just escaped from the Tamil Tigers at their most furious betrayed the horror he had left behind him. “I want to live, not die, and that’s why I have come here with my family,” he said.

Trapped for weeks
The exhausted businessman was safe in a Sri Lankan army base after weeks trapped with 150,000 other civilians in a seven-square-mile strip of land on Sri Lanka’s northeast coast, short of food and fresh water and incessantly pounded by shells.

The rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who for the past 26 years have claimed to be fighting to protect Sri Lanka’s Tamil ethnic minority, have forbidden the refugees to leave—on pain of death.

But as the civil war grinds slowly towards its end with the Tigers apparently facing final defeat, conditions within their enclave have become so grim that in the past week alone an estimated 5,000 men, women and terrified children have risked their lives to flee. Many have been shot by rebel gunmen and some of those caught have been executed.

The elderly man, wearing a grimy T-shirt and sarong and clutching a single bag that contained all that remained of his possessions, had managed to get out that morning.

He described how he had gathered his family and friends, as quietly as possible in the dead of night, before slipping past guards. They had been wading across a muddy lagoon towards Sri Lankan army lines when things went wrong.

“We left at 2 a. m. today in a group of 23 but the Tigers fired at us and only 12 of us arrived here,” he said as his bewildered granddaughter, aged seven, looked on. “I do not know what has happened to the rest. We became separated in the confusion.”

The survivors were sheltering in the northern town of Killinochi, once the Tigers’ capital.

What the man had to say about the Tigers would have been unthinkable for a subject of their dictatorial mini-state a few weeks ago. “The people do not like the Tigers any more,” he said angrily. “They are trapped by them and they are scared. They want the Sri Lankan army to rescue them.”

Iron fist
At their peak, early this decade, the Tigers controlled almost a third of Sri Lanka’s territory — governing it with an iron fist while neglecting to develop its economy, spend money on schools or provide medical care.

Much of the money that poured in from sympathizers abroad to support the cause was creamed off by corrupt leaders.

Three years ago, the island’s Government launched an offensive that has steadily driven the rebels from almost all the territory they held in the north and east. Now the Sri Lankan army believes that the Tigers are finished militarily. All that stands between them and defeat is their ruthlessness in using civilians as a human shield.

The Sunday Telegraph was the first British newspaper to visit the Tigers’ former capital since it fell in January, flying in by helicopter which skimmed low over the jungle canopy as the door gunner scanned below for guerrillas.

One of the architects of the Sri Lankan victory is Brigadier Shavendra Silva, a commander whose proudest boast is that his 58 Division has killed more than 5,000 Tigers since it began its bloody push North in 2006.

Forcibly taken
He said the rebels could let all the civilians go free if they wanted to. “They were forcibly taken,” he said. “That’s the only weapon that the LTTE has left. They wanted human shields so we could not bomb them, and they needed a pool of recruits so they could keep on fighting.”

Young Tiger fighters who have been captured alive have terrible stories to tell of the life they led within the enclave. Sennappu, a 25-year-old teacher, was forcibly recruited and sent into battle after just a month of weapons training with the Tigers’ standard kit: an AK-47 for fighting and a cyanide capsule in case of capture.

Assigned to a bunker in command of six younger women, she could not hold out for long and when they were surrounded two of her comrades decided to blow themselves up with a hand grenade. She begged them to surrender as shells exploded around them.

Terrified of capture
“Mathuvanthy, who was 23, really believed in the Tamil Tigers’ cause. She preferred death to surrender,” Sennappu said.

“Nalliessa, who was 18 and had not long passed her O’levels, had been told she would be tortured if she fell into the hands of our enemies in the Sri Lanka army. She killed herself because she was terrified of capture.”

Sennappu is now safe, but fears that her friends and relatives may well have been press-ganged as the Tigers’ position becomes ever more desperate.

In recent weeks, gangs of Tiger gunmen have been roaming civilian camps under their control, at first taking one recruit from each family and then grabbing anyone over 14, putting guns in their hands and forcing them to the front line — where their life expectancy can be measured in days, or sometimes hours.

Tamils living abroad say LTTE destroyed Wanni Tamils

Mrs. Rajeswari Balasubramaniam, a member of the team of Sri Lankan Tamils living abroad that arrived in Sri Lanka told The Island, though the LTTE designated themselves representatives of the Lankan Tamils they had only destroyed the life of the Wanni based Tamils.

The team expressed their views to the Foreign Ministry officials a few days after their arrival in Sri Lanka.

Mrs Balasubramaniam arrived from London to join team.

"I totally reject the LTTE's stance that the Government in the guise of running welfare camps in Vavuniya is resorting to slavery. I visited these camps and realized they were better maintained than such welfare camps in South India", she said.

An old woman whom Balasubramaniam had met in one welfare camp had told her that in 1991 she gave food to the LTTE while she was in Jaffna but when she and her family attempted to escape from Tiger controlled areas she was attacked.

She described the vessel Vanagaman due to arrive from the UK as a political ruse by the LTTE. The representatives of the Tamil diaspora also placed several suggestions before Presidential Advisor and MP Basil Rajapaksa to improve the living conditions of the residents of the welfare camps.

She also warned government authorities that there could be LTTE cadres among those who live in welfare camps and therefore it is the duty of the government to prevent any recurrence of events of the past.

Food essentials sent to Mullaitivu's trapped civilians - SL Navy ensures safe passage

The UN World Food Program dispatched 1,030 metric tonnes of essential food items on Wednesday (1) to trapped civilians in Mullaitivu on the ICRC chartered vessel. The Navy is providing assistance and safe passage to transport the food items.

Navy spokesman Captain D.P.K. Dassanayake said MV City of Dublin carried over 1,030 mt. of food items in addition to medical items and emergency health and shelter kits. The cargo will be handed over to the Government Agent in Mullaitivu to be distributed among the displaced.

“The Navy assists in the loading and unloading of the cargo as well as providing safe passage to the cargo ship sailing under the ICRC flag,” he added.

WFP Representative and Country Director Adnan Khan said the Government’s timely provision of a large capacity vessel enabled WFP and other partners to ship the goods to the conflict affected civilians.

“The commodities included rice, wheat flour, lentils, sugar, vegetable oil etc,” he added.

Save the lives of fleeing cadres, the army chief tells the LTTE leaders

With the Eelam dream of the LTTE fading Army Chief Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka has called upon the LTTE leaders and other cadres to surrender to the advancing troops as the fighting intensifies into the Tiger heartland.

The soldiers have nearly two more miles to reach the LTTE`s administrative capital.

Gen Fonseka told the Sunday Observer that the LTTE leaders - Soosai, Theepan, Banu, Lakshman, Vidusha, Swarnam and Nadesan - can surrender with their cadres to the army.

He has called upon all ordinary LTTE cadres to lay down their arms and cross over to the liberated areas.

Except for Velupillai Prabhakaran and Pottu Amman we can give protection to all cadres who are willing to surrender. Prabhakaran has been given a 200-year imprisonment term and he is wanted by the Indian government.He said Pottu Amman, is also a wanted man under the law and added that they would otherwise have to die in fierce battles as the security forces have intensified their offensive in Kilinochchi and Mullaithivu.

The security forces lost control in Kilinochchi in 1998 and the LTTE built the area as their administrative capital where many of their offices and important camps stand.

It is the best time for the LTTEers to surrender. Arrangements are being made for them to be rehabilitated`, he said.

The Army Chief who served as the General Officer Commanding at Elephant Pass before it fell into the hands of the LTTE said that the advancing troops could now see the LTTE`s buildings and the city is within the artillery and mortar range.

According to Lt. Gen Fonseka, the cadres who wish to surrender can cross at any point where the troops are stationed.

They can coordinate with the intelligence sources. A significant number of cadres has already started negotiations with the security forces`, he said.

However, a group of 14 LTTE cadres who tried to surrender to the security forces last week were killed by the LTTE before they crossed over to the liberated areas.

The group had used an alternative route to cross over instead of what was given to them by the security forces.

Meanwhile, defence sources said over 100 LTTE cadres and ten soldiers were killed in clashes during the past three days while fighter jets of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) had destroyed some of the main bases of the LTTE including the office of the Head of the Political Wing P. Nadesan, at Driyarukulam, a kilometre away from Trirukulam.

Two no fire zones declared :

Two no fire zones have been declared to guarantee the security of civilians now fleeing from Kilinochchi after pitched battles erupted between Government troops and Tigers in the outskirts of the Kilinochchi town, Army Commander Lt. General Sarath Fonseka said yesterday. The Army Commander told journalists attending the annual flag blessing ceremony yesterday to mark the 59th anniversary of the Sri Lanka Army, that the LTTE is fighting its final battle in Kilinochchi.

Civilians have already vacated the town and are fleeing towards Vishvamadu and in the direction of Puthukuduiruppu as troops intensified operations targeting the Kilinochchi town within the past few days. According to the Army Commander there are around 250,000 civilians trapped in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu.

We have declared two no fire zones, each 10 square kilometres in Vishvamadu and Oddusudan in the Mullaitivu district to guarantee the security of these civilians. We have educated civilians about these two no fire zones through the government agents in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu, he said.

Sl Army Vs LTTE- The difference in kindness, generosity, equality and humanity

She could have breath her last in few minutes or would have tucked with other dead bodies of her colleagues. Founded among 17 dead bodies, she was sustaining serious injuries in the stomach and the left arm, had the luck to live thanks to the sharp eyes of a soldier, who is fighting a battle to liberate thousands of Tamils still suffer for the sake of a one man`s dream to have a separate land.

The fighting escalated at 5.30 am as the LTTE was still holding ground at the A 32 Road towards Pooneryn. Eight man team of the Delta Company of the 11 Sri Lanka Light Infantry at the 58 division, led by Captain Lalantha Kollurage was taking its maximum effort to capture the location bunkers at Paddaruyal Villu between the 10 and 11 mile posts which is three and half km East of Ponneryn - Manner main road. After hours long heavy fighting using RPG attacks, the team managed to gain control of the location in the wee hours of November 1 killing 17 LTTE cadres.

While recovering dead bodies of the LTTE cadres, the soldiers found a female cadre was still breathing. The field medics gave her fist aid. After regaining consciousness she pleaded the soldiers to give her some water. Later she asked something to eat saying they were left without food for days. Honouring the moral values, the soldiers did not let her die and they treated her as one of their colleagues and was given saline. She was then brought to the nearest medical dressing station where she was treated.

This girl who was found lying unconsciously among the other dead bodies was in a trench. She a cadre attached to the `Malathi` regiment was a resident of Mulankavil. Trained in Jaffna, the 18 year old girl was brought down to Uthirivillu from Muhamalei forcibly. The blindfolded LTTE cadres including females were just dropped at battle fronts and forced to fight.

The girl with her norm de guerilla `Priya` was abducted by the LTTE some months back and was given a crash training on handling weapons and facing the battle. Know nothing about the strength or the fighting capacity of the Security Forces, the teenage girls and boys were shown heroic pictures of the LTTE cadres and have misled by saying that the LTTE would confront any battle against the Security Forces. The young cadres were given an assurance that the LTTE would win the battle and they are fighting a wining battle. Still abducting underage children to keep the battle going, the LTTE which is fighting a losing battle with a less man and fire power, gives hopes for a separate state for Tamils while shutting down all the possible communication links to know the truth about the battle. Arriving at a very decisive stage, the LTTE still maintaining the human shield, according to information, has become very hard on those who try to flee the LTTE controlled areas. The outfit does not spare even 10 year old children and the sources said the LTTE now abduct small children to employ them in the other work while the senior cadres are being sent to battle fronts.

The sources said that the new recruits from elsewhere were blindfolded and drop at the front lines and as they have no option and without knowing much about each other they are forced to fight for their survival.

Priya had a grenade and she did not bite the cyanide as she wanted to live. Priya`s story will be the best example to show the difference between a professional army and a terrorists organisation.

During the Thoppigala operation, Sergeant K.G. Priyantha Pathirana was found with serious injuries and was taken under the LTTE custody, before the security forces captured the Thoppigala town. The LTTE terrorists, including female cadres, treated him in an inhumane way before his neck was cut while he was struggling for life. Later his head was displayed at the Thoppigala junction. But, the fate of Priya turned a new leaf in her life and she will live to tell the difference. The mission to rescue another `human` at the battle front was a success due to immediate actions by the 58 division Commander Brigadier Shavendra Silva, the teenager was given a new lease of life. It will be a show piece to tell the world that the Sri Lanka is carrying a humanitarian operation and not even a battle against those who misled by the LTTE. Not only Priya but many LTTE carders who crossed to liberated areas with serious injuries were given medical treatment alike the soldiers wounded in the battle fronts.

The highly discipline soldiers carried Priya, more than a kilo metre from the point that they were fighting simply to save a life of another human being. They did not disregard the international humanitarian laws and even the soldiers at the front lines are well aware about those values - not to kill even an enemy who is fighting for life.

Already suffering from internal bleeding Priya was carried by a stretechre to the nearest Medical Dressing Station (MDS) where she was given immediate treatment.

Then she was transported in an ambulance for over eight km to the main MDS where the military doctor of the 58 division gave her treatment for the abdominal injuries.

Giving top priority the teenage female cadre was airlifted to the Anuradhapura General Hospital for further treatment as she was badly injured.

Then her journey for freedom as well as for life was ended at the Colombo National Hospital, where she is now given special medical treatment and care.