Govt vows to open land route to Jaffna

COLOMBO, DEC 12: Sri Lanka's Army will secure a land route through territory held by the Tamil Tigers to reunite Jaffna peninsula with the ...

COLOMBO, DEC 12: Sri Lanka’s Army will secure a land route through territory held by the Tamil Tigers to reunite Jaffna peninsula with the rest of the country “at any cost” before the country’s 50th anniversary celebrations in February, according to Defence Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte.

“We are prepared to reopen the main supply route at any cost. This country has been divided fat too long and we must reunify it, and we want to achieve this before the country celebrates its 50th anniversary. We want the north and south to get together,” Ratwatte said during an informal discussion with members of the Foreign Correspondent’s Association of Sri Lanka at his home yesterday evening.

Over 150 soldiers were killed last Thursday in a pitched battle with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in northern Sri Lanka when they attempted to advance north along the Vavuniya-Killinochchi highway. Government troops have been trying over the last seven months to secure the route, which lies in Tiger-controlled territory.

Control over that stretch of road would for the government mean land access to the north after a span of nearly seven years. So far, the military offensive code-named Operation Jaya Sekuru has managed to secure about 20 km of the 75-km stretch, while dominating a further 30 km along both sides of the road. Soldiers, who left Vavuniya army camp on May 13, must reach the camp at Killinochchi in order to achieve the government’s objective.

Ratwatte said field commanders and soldiers alike were determined to carry through Operation Jaya Sekuru to its conclusion, Ratwatte said. He scoffed at reports that the govt was pushing its army in spite of cautionary advice from top brass. “The casualty rate does not prevent us from going ahead. No war can be won without casualties,” he said, adding “We had planned for this.” Recounting the events of last Thursday that led to one of the worst ever debacles for the military, Ratwatte said two squadrons of the elite Special Forces commandos were wiped out when they went to evacuate casualties from an LTTE camp that had been overrun earlier in the day.

According to him, 14 soldiers were injured during the operation. Late at night, two commando squadrons were sent to bring them back, but by that time, the LTTE which had taken a beating earlier in the day, advanced to take on the rescuers in fierce combat.

But, Ratwatte maintained, the incident had not affected troop morale adversely. According to Ratwatte, it was amongst the “leaderless” cadres of the LTTE that morale was down.

Story continues below this ad

Dismissing speculation by military analysts that the army would not be able to hold on to the route even if it gained control of it, Ratwatte said there were 10,000 armed forces personnel trained just to guard the road. “Their job is to take over areas secured by the offensive troops,” he said.

Contrary to earlier reports that two divisions of the army were involved in the operation, Ratwatte revealed that four divisions of offensive troops had been pressed into service for the offensive, the biggest that Sri Lanka has ever seen. Each of these are independent well-equipped divisions, comprising three brigades each.

But even Ratwatte was unable to predict how the Tigers would react to the Sri Lankan government’s most crushing offensive against them so far. “I am confident that the LTTE will be weakened, but I cannot say whether this will force them to come forward for talks,” he remarked.