COLOMBO, June 27: Spurred by the success of their attacks on the Sri Lankan army at Thandikulam and Omanthai in quick succession, area commanders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are now vying with with each other to display their military talents and prove their loyalty to their leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, Tamil sources said.Tuesday's attack on the area secured by soldiers only a month ago was a message to the government that even if the military manages to achieve its objective of securing the Vavuniya-Killinochchi highway, the Tigers are unlikely to take it lying down.It indicated that they are not short on military talent, manpower or materials and will mount similar attacks again and again till it becomes unviable for the army to hold on to the road.In a statement from its London headquarters, the LTTE said it had killed more than 100 soldiers in the attack on Tuesday and taken away a 120 mm gun, 300 artillery shells and other small arms. It admitted to losing 85 of its own cadres in the attack.At least three more LTTE area commanders are believed to be awaiting their turn to show that they can better the counter-offensive at Omanthai and the one at Thandikulam two weeks ago. Sources said that in a well-planned move before the launch of Operation Jaya Sekuru, Prabhakaran placed several commanders in charge of various key towns, ordering them to treat the battle as ``my war'', immediately turning it into a challenge for each of them.Moreover, by placing women in charge of the team that led the first successful attack, Prabhakaran ensured that the men would try not to fall short of the standards and pace set by the LTTE women's wing.``There is now a scramble amongst these commanders to outdo each other and by the men to outdo the women,'' said a former Tamil militant now based in the Sri Lankan capital. Sources said the two attacks on Jaya Sekuru were devised by two senior military strategists of the LTTE, Bhanu and Jeyam.In charge of Omanthai for the current battle against the Sri Lankan army, both are experienced in many LTTE operations. Jeyam was one of the leaders of the attack on the Mullaithivu army camp, perhaps the LTTE's biggest military success. Army officers are believed to be allergic to the very sound of his name.Awaiting the army at Puliyankulam is Balraj, the LTTE's deputy military commander, second only to Prabhakaran. Sources said that if the army manages to push through into the town, Balraj would have to better his juniors in the LTTE or at least equal them.Similarly, Swarnam, the leader of the LTTE's Charles Antony brigade which is trained for special operations, has been placed in charge of Oddusudan, which is at an equal distance from Mankulam on the highway and Prabhakaran's hide-out at Mullaithivu in the north-east. And Karuna, who was the LTTE military in-charge of Batticaloa region, is believed to be now in the region of Nedunkerni which was taken by the army in the first few days of Operation Jaya Sekuru.
