Routed in East, under pressure in North, Tigers opt for desperate tactics in South

Public vigilance could deprive LTTE of opportunities to cause mayhem and destruction:

Ranil Wijayapala

Public vigilance: The claymore mine explosions at Reclamation Road, Colombo and in Ratmalana, once again put Colombo city on red alert. Though the bomb explosion at Reclamation Road could not move the public at large, the deaths of eight civilians who were caught in the rush hour bomb blast at Ratmalana had a considerable impact on civilian life not only in Colombo but also in other parts of the country.

Has there been a lapse on the part of the Security Forces for the Tiger activists to engage in this type sabotage activities in Colombo, was the main question asked by the people in the aftermath of these two incidents.

From that perspective many people got a bad impression of the Security Forces and the Police as they launched a massive search operation in Colombo immediately after the bomb explosion in Ratmalana.

It is difficult to say whether these incidents had resulted due to a lapse on the part of the Security Forces or due to a reduced alertness either from the side of Security Forces or the public. But destruction was the

 ultimate result of both these factors whether it was a security lapse or a reduced level of alertness.

The Police and Security Forces investigating the two claymore explosions have found one common thread. The perpetrators have made use of abandoned buildings to plant the claymore mines. At Reclamation Road, the perpetrators had taken the cover of a building under repair to fix the claymore mine to a motorcycle parked on the kerb. The second claymore had been fixed to the roof of an abandoned shop.

One thing is very clear in these two cases. The terrorists have been constant in their quest to find a weak point to turn it in favour of their terror activities when people and also the Security Forces were paying less attention towards their suspicious movements.

It has to be highlighted that many such claymore explosions were averted during the past few months, when Security Forces were heavily engaged in military operations, especially in the Eastern theatre, due to high alertness of the public even before the twin bus explosions in January this year.

The aftermath of the twin bus explosions in January this year was the peak of public alertness towards terror acts, since they witnessed a series of military victories against the Tiger outfit during that period.

So the public was much more concerned about their safety as they felt they were in a dangerous situation if the Tigers carried out any bomb explosion in Colombo. Many claymore mines fixed by Tiger activists were defused in Colombo and suburbs after being detected by the public. That means they were on high alert while the Security Forces were engaged in the same type of operations in and around Colombo.

But that high alertness drastically dropped during the past few months since they could not feel or see the type of operations that had been carried out by the Security Forces in the North and East as nothing dramatic had happened there during this period except for the resettlement of displaced Tamil civilians in Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts.

The Security Forces and the Police investigating the bomb explosion at Ratmalana indicate that the lack of alertness of the public had paved the way for the Tiger operatives to accomplish their target without facing any obstacles.

According to investigations people have ignored some individuals who had visited this abandoned shop several times, thinking they were the ones who were going to start a business in that shop.

Since the Security Forces cannot guard each and every place to prevent terror activists planting bombs to reach their targets to show their desperation, civilians too should act with greater responsibility by extending their support to the Security Forces and the Police. Otherwise it would be extremely difficult to keep Colombo free of explosions.

If people are constantly vigilant, they can easily identify the perpetrators of this type of terror activities as they tend to engage in surveillance of such places prior to accomplishing their operations. If they feel that people ignore them, they would easily make use of that opportunity to go ahead with their terror operations.

However, it is abundantly clear that the part played by the public to identify suspicious people and their movements, is vital to maintain better security in the whole country at a time the Tiger outfit is coming out with desperate acts as they are being beaten not only in the East but also in the Wanni and the North.

Security Forces and Police investigating the incident at Ratmalana suspect that the Tigers would have selected Belek Kade junction to detonate a claymore mine since that route is frequently used by Security Forces personnel going on and off duty in Jaffna via the Ratmalana airport.

However, as they are desperate to blow up the Tiger outfit's image, they now tend to opt for timid acts disregarding the presence of civilians, as their prime aim is to demoralise the Security Forces, by inflicting a large number of casualties among them.

Therefore, the Tiger outfit will definitely come out with suicide missions most probably targeting a large number of troops. Vessels taking troops to and from Jaffna could be a prime target. The failed attempts last year to destroy troops carrying vessels Pearl Cruiser II and Jet Liner come to mind in this regard.

Under these circumstances it is better to be more careful when transporting troops from one place to another in large numbers. According to sources they want to inflict damage to the Security Forces as the number of LTTE fighting cadres in the Wanni has come down drastically after they got routed by the Security Forces now engaged in limited operations west of Omanthai.

The Tiger outfit is engaged in a hopeless mission in the Wanni forcibly keeping the entire civilian population depriving them of their freedom of movement to be used as a human shield against the Security Forces in order to recruit more youth to be trained as fighting cadres.

The LTTE has also put pressure on Bishop of Mannar Rev. Rayappu Joseph to send away nearly 10,000 innocent civilians who had taken refuge in an around Madhu shrine in fear of their children being recruited to the LTTE to make their objective easier.

These innocent civilians from various parts of Mannar region took refuge there, as they believed that their children may be safer with the religious dignitaries. They have now been deprived of even the last chance to protect their children from the Tiger outfit.

As explained in last week's column, residents of uncleared areas will definitely take their route to cleared areas in Mannar like the way people in Vedithalthivu, Mannar reached cleared areas by boat, daring the guns of the LTTE.

A much stronger protest against the Tiger outfit in the Wanni developed this week as they mercilessly kept seriously ill patients who were to be transferred from Kilinochchi hospital to other hospitals in need of urgent treatment, without opening the Omanthai and Uyilankulam checkpoints for them to cross into cleared areas.

Government Agents in Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi made fervent appeals to the LTTE and the Security Forces to open the entry/exit points in Uyilankulam and Omanthai to transfer these patients to Vavuniya hospital.

The Government had always been positive to these requests, but the LTTE was quite adamant as they feared that civilians in large numbers would flee the area isolating the Tiger cadres in Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi which would soon be a theatre of battle between the Security Forces and the LTTE.

No one cannot prevent outbreak of confrontations between the Security Forces and the LTTE in the Wanni soon, since the Government no longer can tolerate the terror acts of the LTTE taking cover of innocent Tamil civilians treated as hostages.

However, the LTTE on Tuesday after extensive discussions with the ICRC agreed to open Omanthai entry/exit point only for three days a week with the presence of ICRC officials. When the ICRC had a discussion with the Government on Tuesday at the Defence Ministry, the Government indicated that the Security Forces were ready to open the entry exit point all seven days of the week contrary to the position taken by the LTTE.

However, an official communiqu‚ issued by the ICRC in Colombo said they had agreed to open the Omanthai entry/exit point three days a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and the road was opened on Wednesday after a lapse of almost two weeks giving a chance for people in the Wanni to cross into cleared areas to attend to their daily needs.

In the Eastern theatre too the LTTE is being defeated by the Security Forces as Tiger cadres are now

 trapped in Thoppigala jungles in Batticaloa. According to sources LTTE cadres led by Jeyam are making various attempts to break out of the Thoppigala jungles to flee to the Wanni as they are running out of food and ammunition since the Forces have completely blocked logistics supplies to Thoppigala jungles.

Many cadres are now surrendering to the Army as they have already accepted defeat in the Thoppigala jungles. If pressure on the Tiger cadres continues in this manner they would definitely surrender to the Security Forces in the coming weeks, enabling the Security Forces to clear the area without any confrontation.

The completion of this mission by the Security Forces will dispel fears among the public and also among international community regarding the safety of civilians being resettled west and south of Batticaloa.

The Government last week conveyed the message to Colombo-based diplomats that they will be given free access to the Eastern province upon the completion of clearing operations in the province.

However, the Security Forces and the Police Special Task Force have been given clear instructions by the Defence Ministry to maintain security at its maximum level in the province constantly conducting search and clear operations to ensure that no Tiger cadres are operating in the province.

Such operations will help prevent the recurrence of incidents such as the claymore mine explosion at Thirukkovil in Ampara on Sunday. They will also help recover arms and ammunitions hidden by Tiger cadres in various places. This will also help the successful resettlement programme carried out by the Government to resettle nearly 60,000 displaced civilians from Batticaloa west and south areas.

The progress of the resettlement programme in the East will keep the LTTE in a more disadvantageous position as the Tamil community can no longer keep faith in the LTTE. They have now got a new lease of life in their villages free of terror acts of the LTTE.

The progress achieved by the Security Forces in the East will give an edge to the Security Forces as they do not need to concentrate heavily on this part when facing a serious situation either in Jaffna or in the Wanni.

However, the situation will be worse if the Tamil people who had been resettled in the East are not given their due while they are peacefully resettled in their villages. The development machinery of the Government should act fast achieving this objective as soon as possible.

It is the only way the Government can win the confidence of the people and go ahead with its intended objective to provide a political solution for the North-East issue with the support of all communities in the country.