Sri Lanka Gov't capture last Tamil Tiger territory/Blood & Dishonour
Together 4 Tamils | 16.05.2009 07:12 | Anti-racism | Repression | Social Struggles
Whilst a human rights catastrophe has unfolded across the northern region of Sri-Lanka, military forces of the Sri Lankan government are on the verge of seizing the last small patch of rebel held territory on 16/05/09
Tamil solidarity event in North London this Sunday:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/05/430270.html
Tamil solidarity event in North London this Sunday:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/05/430270.html
Seylon: Blood & Dishonour
By Mark S Brown (aka markibrown - tlio)
Whilst a human rights catastrophe has unfolded across the northern region of Sri-Lanka, military forces of the Sri Lankan government are on the verge of seizing the last small patch of rebel held territory on 16/05/09.
Since January 2009, the Sri Lankan government advanced and took over large swathes of Tamil Tiger (LTTE) territory across the north of the country, pushing Tamils into narrow strip of northern coastline measuring 10 sq km in the north-east of the island - LTTE’s last remaining enclave in Vanni. An unquestionable brutal military offensive of a captive Tamil civilian population is already shown to have been a clear violation of various UN conventions on human rights. More than 300,000 Tamils have been under siege by the Sri Lankan forces. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which rarely makes public comment, called this conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil rebels, 'nothing short of catastrophic'.
The Sri-Lankan government’s version of events have been largely accepted by the western media, principally that Tamil civilians were being held hostage by the LTTE in the military standoff. Details within this latest escalation in the long-running conflict between the Sinhalese government and Tamil liberation forces bypassed by western media include the use of chemical weapons and aerial bombing of a captive civilian population including the targeting of hospitals in the so-called “no-fire zone”, the withholding of supplies of food and medical aid and water supply to a captive population, the dismemberment of young adults and allegations of rape and torture in 'welfare centre’ camps by government forces. Meanwhile the ICRC ship carrying emergency supply of food provided by the World Food Organization (WFO) was prevented from delivering its consignments due to refusal of the Sri Lankan Government to provide security guarantees, even though LTTE has given all clearance and guarantees. And another ship working on medical evacuations also prevented from reaching shores with the same reason.
The Sri Lankan state & military mindset is formed by the knowledge that Israeli attacks against similarly confined civilians go with impunity. It is estimated around 100,000 people have already died in the conflict, with accusations of genocide rife. That the UK media is once again acquiescing in their own censorship is hardly surprising, as in the ‘war on Gaza,’ western media organizations have been denied access to the Tamil enclave surrounded by government forces.
Sri Lankan airforce Generals who say they do not target civilians, publicly state that if they are being hurt, it is not because the SL army have been raining down artillery shells upon them, but because of Tamil Tigers (LTTE) who are continuing to resist the forces of law and order. Reports of the use of Tamil civilians as human shields by the Tigers are rife also, though have not been corroborated by anyone. It is not clear how far this is the case as there is evidence that there are many civilians who are family members of LTTE fighters who are intent on staying with their loved ones to the last.
Background
Sri Lanka’s current problems can be traced back to the legacy of British colonialism, when Great Britain forced independence on Ceylon in 1948 as one administrative unit, a move originally made in 1833 to rule over three distinct kingdoms. The island of Sri Lanka (known as Ceylon until the promulgation of the new Republican Constitution in 1972) is the historical homeland of two ancient civilisations – the ancient Dravidian (Tamil) population, who greeted the arrival of the Sinhala people who arrived on the island with their legendary Prince Vijaya from the `city of Sinhapura in Bengal' in the 6th century BC. When the Portuguese first landed on the island in the beginning of the 16th century, and the Dutch after them, both imperial powers governed the Tamil nation as a separate kingdom, recognising the Tamil homeland and the ethnic identity and integrity of the Tamil people. The British occupied the island from 1796, and in 1833 merged the Tamil and Sinhala nations into one unit for administrative convenience.
Between the 1840s and 1850s, a million people were imported – mainly poor, oppressed castes from Tamil Nadu. Tamils, who under the British had had a greater success in business and administration than the Sinhalese, were discriminated against.
Balasingham: “British colonial rule forcefully amalgamated two separate kingdoms of
two nations of people. However, the British encouraged the higher-caste Tamils and provided them with an adequate share in the state administration under a notorious strategy of divide and rule, that later sparked the fires of Sinhala chauvinism, as a section of the high caste Tamil population adopted the English educational system. Tamil dominance is the state administrative structure as well as in the plantation economic sector, together with the privileges enjoyed by the English educated elites and the spread of Christianity are factors which propelled the emergence of Sinhala nationalism.” [Source: Taken from "War & Peace: Armed Struggle & Peace efforts of Liberation Tigers", by Anton Balasingham (2004) Fairmax Publishing Ltd].
Independence from British rule in the transfer of political power to the Sinhalese majority fuelled a vicious and violent form of state oppression against the Tamil people. State oppression has a continuous history of more than half a century since independence and has been practiced by successive Sri Lanka governments. The following are the main events which occurred over time to perpetuate this trend:
1948: Citizenship Act; 1 million Tamils declared non-citizens
1949: Sinhalese colonisation of traditional Tamil homeland starts
1956: Sinhala Only Act passed; Sinhala made sole official language
Mass non-violent Tamil protest brutally repressed by government forces and Sinhala mobs. Further state-sponsored violence occurs in 1958, 1961 and 1974
1970: ‘Ethnic standardisation’ slashes university admission to Tamils (same entrance exam, but Tamils are forced to score 30%)
1972: New Constitution without Tamil participation passed
- unilateral name change of country from ‘Ceylon’ to ‘Sri-Lanka’
- declaration of Sri Lanka as a republic
- Buddhism declared state religion
It was this series of events which gave birth to the Tamil Tiger guerrilla movement in 1976 and the growth of the armed resistance campaign of the Tamils. The raison-detre of the Tamil fight for independence was perhaps most succinctly expressed by Anton Balasingham who said in his book ‘War & Peace’: “national oppression is the enemy of class struggle …working class solidarity is practically unattainable when national oppression presents itself as the major contradiction between the two nations.”
The Tamil Tigers were comprised of a sea and air force, and previously launched attacks on government military airports. They assassinated former Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993. However, it attracted negative attention for deploying suicide bombers and has been lambasted for allegedly recruiting children as young as twelve to engage in armed combat against government troops.
Downward spiral of ethnic violence
Civil war erupted in 1983. After the LTTE killed 13 Sri Lankan soldiers in an ambush, 3,000 Tamils were slaughtered in government-instigated Sinhalese programmes in ‘Black July’. Since then the violence has spiralled out of control, claiming over 70,000 lives.
Major military gains by the Tigers and the dire state of the Sri Lankan economy as a result of the ongoing war were the key factors that forced the Sri Lankan Government to respond positively to unilateral LTTE ceasefires declared in 2000 and 2001. The February 2002 Norwegian-mediated ceasefire agreement has been the longest-lasting attempt to bring peace. However, practically all attempts from talks in 1985, those held in 1987, the failed negotiations in 1994-95, to the most recent ones in 2002, have eventually all collapsed or stalemated in the end.
This might have something to do with the fact that the LTTE are a proscribed terrorist organisation. The discrimination against LTTE in negotiations that give full representation to the views of the Sri Lankan Singalese government is a key part of the problem and the ongoing political stalemate. As a former colonial territory which existed in its own right alongside the Singalese nation, the Tamil Nation has not received true recognition for it’s own history and how it came about. Any historical analysis of this situation is similarly never examined.
Several Tamil MPs elected in the last pariamentary elections in the country in 2004 have been murdered, including Mr Maheswaran and Nadarajah Raviraj. Veteran Eastern Province Parliamentarian Joseph Pararajasingham was shot dead last year at the St. Mary's Cathedral in Batticaloa during midnight mass for Christmas.
Land grab under the guise of development
The Mahaweli Development Project, the largest single development programme undertaken by the Government of Sri Lanka so far, which started in 1977, included the construction of a cascade of large dams along river Mahaweli, channelling water to irrigation projects in the drier north-central parts of the island and provided hydroelectric power from 3 dams. The scheme had the added effect of splitting the north and east of the country, dividing the Tamil enclave with large resettlement of the Singalese population occurring – principally a land grab under the guise of development. Environmental effects included a rise in the watertable thus necessitating drainage and increased salinity in some areas and contamination of natural water ways due to high usage of agrochemicals in agricultural practices. Additionally, the Victoria dam wiped out the last habitat of the Veddha tribe, a dam built by UK-based Balfour Beatty which was allegedly completed in part-exchange for military armaments.
Recent military offensives in the north by government forces which swept entire populations of Tamils into the enclave in the north east over recent months have resulted in a widespread dispersal of munitions and landmines in forests across the region.
China’s ‘String of Pearls’
Observers have pointed to the fact that China is quietly strengthening its strategic position in the Indian Ocean. China’s strategic interest in the island, underscored by it’s military assistance to the Sri Lankan government, is manifest in the building of a $1 billion port at Hambantota on Sri Lanka's south coast, to use as a refuelling and docking station for its navy - an essential component of China’s need to secure shipping lanes across the Indian Ocean and through the Straits of Melaka and the South China Sea for it’s supplies of Saudi oil. To safeguard its shipping, China needs to be capable of projecting power into the Indian Ocean, the Middle East and Africa. From ports and airfields like Hambantota, sited along the Eurasian seaways like a 'string of pearls', Chinese forces could gather intelligence, protect its shipping and attack hostile navies. [Source: The Strategist - Ref: http://kotare.typepad.com/thestrategist/2009/05/chinese-in-sri-lanka.html ].
Ever since Sri Lanka agreed to the plan, in March 2007, China has increased military aid and arms sales to Sri Lanka. China became it’s biggest arms supplier in the 1990s; in April 2007, Sri Lanka signed a classified $37.6 million (£25 million) deal to buy Chinese ammunition and ordnance for its army and navy, according to Jane’s Defence Weekly, and according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, China gave Sri Lanka — apparently free of charge — six F7 jet in 2008. China’s aid to Sri Lanka jumped from a few million dollars in 2005 to almost $1 billion last year, replacing Japan as the biggest foreign donor. [Source: “Chinese billions in Sri Lanka fund battle against Tamil Tigers”, The Times Online, May 2, 2009 – Ref: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6207487.ece ].
China’s impartiality in taking their seat as a permanent member of the UN Security Council must be questioned in this respect.
IMF loan denounced
Following the 750bn IMF Emergency funding received at the recent G20 leader's Summit in London in April, the first real test to any improvement in the abysmal human rights record of the International Monetary Fund has been fortified by a 'letter before (legal) action' to the British Government. In the letter sent to high level British Government officials, Public Interest Lawyers, a group of attorneys representing a Tamil activist group in UK, charge that in light of the Sri Lankan Government's systematic and gross violations of international humanitarian and human rights law "the UK under international law has various obligations, namely, to denounce and not recognise the situation in Sri Lanka as lawful [and] not to render aid and assistance to Sri Lanka. Amongst other things, the letter seeks:
“An immediate, clear and unequivocal declaration that the UK government will vote against the proposed $1.9 billion IMF emergency support loan to the Sri Lankan government.”
End Game no nearer
A victory by the Sri Lankan state at this juncture is no victory even for that state.
The Sri Lankan state in aiming for feudal or colonial ambitions, will never end the actual war in this way. The LTTE and the struggle are not only sure to survive but will find resurgence in a more severe Form, returning to an underground resistance with the return of suicide bombing as a tactic.
Furthermore, the current military operations and the possible incompleteness of them in the annihilation of the LTTE leadership, which Colombo is soon going to realise and going to complain about, will serve only for its excuses of not agreeing to meaningful political solutions.
This article (or version thereof) will be published in the Summer issue (Issue No-7) of 'The Land ' magazine
Ref: http://www.tlio.org.uk/TheLand/index.html
Ref for this article: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LegacyofColonialism/message/2100
Further sources of info:
Bloodbath unfolding in Sri Lanka
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/05/429989.html
Tamil humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka deepens, world looks away
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LegacyofColonialism/message/2090
Tamil solidarity event this Sunday
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/05/430270.html
By Mark S Brown (aka markibrown - tlio)
Whilst a human rights catastrophe has unfolded across the northern region of Sri-Lanka, military forces of the Sri Lankan government are on the verge of seizing the last small patch of rebel held territory on 16/05/09.
Since January 2009, the Sri Lankan government advanced and took over large swathes of Tamil Tiger (LTTE) territory across the north of the country, pushing Tamils into narrow strip of northern coastline measuring 10 sq km in the north-east of the island - LTTE’s last remaining enclave in Vanni. An unquestionable brutal military offensive of a captive Tamil civilian population is already shown to have been a clear violation of various UN conventions on human rights. More than 300,000 Tamils have been under siege by the Sri Lankan forces. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which rarely makes public comment, called this conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil rebels, 'nothing short of catastrophic'.
The Sri-Lankan government’s version of events have been largely accepted by the western media, principally that Tamil civilians were being held hostage by the LTTE in the military standoff. Details within this latest escalation in the long-running conflict between the Sinhalese government and Tamil liberation forces bypassed by western media include the use of chemical weapons and aerial bombing of a captive civilian population including the targeting of hospitals in the so-called “no-fire zone”, the withholding of supplies of food and medical aid and water supply to a captive population, the dismemberment of young adults and allegations of rape and torture in 'welfare centre’ camps by government forces. Meanwhile the ICRC ship carrying emergency supply of food provided by the World Food Organization (WFO) was prevented from delivering its consignments due to refusal of the Sri Lankan Government to provide security guarantees, even though LTTE has given all clearance and guarantees. And another ship working on medical evacuations also prevented from reaching shores with the same reason.
The Sri Lankan state & military mindset is formed by the knowledge that Israeli attacks against similarly confined civilians go with impunity. It is estimated around 100,000 people have already died in the conflict, with accusations of genocide rife. That the UK media is once again acquiescing in their own censorship is hardly surprising, as in the ‘war on Gaza,’ western media organizations have been denied access to the Tamil enclave surrounded by government forces.
Sri Lankan airforce Generals who say they do not target civilians, publicly state that if they are being hurt, it is not because the SL army have been raining down artillery shells upon them, but because of Tamil Tigers (LTTE) who are continuing to resist the forces of law and order. Reports of the use of Tamil civilians as human shields by the Tigers are rife also, though have not been corroborated by anyone. It is not clear how far this is the case as there is evidence that there are many civilians who are family members of LTTE fighters who are intent on staying with their loved ones to the last.
Background
Sri Lanka’s current problems can be traced back to the legacy of British colonialism, when Great Britain forced independence on Ceylon in 1948 as one administrative unit, a move originally made in 1833 to rule over three distinct kingdoms. The island of Sri Lanka (known as Ceylon until the promulgation of the new Republican Constitution in 1972) is the historical homeland of two ancient civilisations – the ancient Dravidian (Tamil) population, who greeted the arrival of the Sinhala people who arrived on the island with their legendary Prince Vijaya from the `city of Sinhapura in Bengal' in the 6th century BC. When the Portuguese first landed on the island in the beginning of the 16th century, and the Dutch after them, both imperial powers governed the Tamil nation as a separate kingdom, recognising the Tamil homeland and the ethnic identity and integrity of the Tamil people. The British occupied the island from 1796, and in 1833 merged the Tamil and Sinhala nations into one unit for administrative convenience.
Between the 1840s and 1850s, a million people were imported – mainly poor, oppressed castes from Tamil Nadu. Tamils, who under the British had had a greater success in business and administration than the Sinhalese, were discriminated against.
Balasingham: “British colonial rule forcefully amalgamated two separate kingdoms of
two nations of people. However, the British encouraged the higher-caste Tamils and provided them with an adequate share in the state administration under a notorious strategy of divide and rule, that later sparked the fires of Sinhala chauvinism, as a section of the high caste Tamil population adopted the English educational system. Tamil dominance is the state administrative structure as well as in the plantation economic sector, together with the privileges enjoyed by the English educated elites and the spread of Christianity are factors which propelled the emergence of Sinhala nationalism.” [Source: Taken from "War & Peace: Armed Struggle & Peace efforts of Liberation Tigers", by Anton Balasingham (2004) Fairmax Publishing Ltd].
Independence from British rule in the transfer of political power to the Sinhalese majority fuelled a vicious and violent form of state oppression against the Tamil people. State oppression has a continuous history of more than half a century since independence and has been practiced by successive Sri Lanka governments. The following are the main events which occurred over time to perpetuate this trend:
1948: Citizenship Act; 1 million Tamils declared non-citizens
1949: Sinhalese colonisation of traditional Tamil homeland starts
1956: Sinhala Only Act passed; Sinhala made sole official language
Mass non-violent Tamil protest brutally repressed by government forces and Sinhala mobs. Further state-sponsored violence occurs in 1958, 1961 and 1974
1970: ‘Ethnic standardisation’ slashes university admission to Tamils (same entrance exam, but Tamils are forced to score 30%)
1972: New Constitution without Tamil participation passed
- unilateral name change of country from ‘Ceylon’ to ‘Sri-Lanka’
- declaration of Sri Lanka as a republic
- Buddhism declared state religion
It was this series of events which gave birth to the Tamil Tiger guerrilla movement in 1976 and the growth of the armed resistance campaign of the Tamils. The raison-detre of the Tamil fight for independence was perhaps most succinctly expressed by Anton Balasingham who said in his book ‘War & Peace’: “national oppression is the enemy of class struggle …working class solidarity is practically unattainable when national oppression presents itself as the major contradiction between the two nations.”
The Tamil Tigers were comprised of a sea and air force, and previously launched attacks on government military airports. They assassinated former Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993. However, it attracted negative attention for deploying suicide bombers and has been lambasted for allegedly recruiting children as young as twelve to engage in armed combat against government troops.
Downward spiral of ethnic violence
Civil war erupted in 1983. After the LTTE killed 13 Sri Lankan soldiers in an ambush, 3,000 Tamils were slaughtered in government-instigated Sinhalese programmes in ‘Black July’. Since then the violence has spiralled out of control, claiming over 70,000 lives.
Major military gains by the Tigers and the dire state of the Sri Lankan economy as a result of the ongoing war were the key factors that forced the Sri Lankan Government to respond positively to unilateral LTTE ceasefires declared in 2000 and 2001. The February 2002 Norwegian-mediated ceasefire agreement has been the longest-lasting attempt to bring peace. However, practically all attempts from talks in 1985, those held in 1987, the failed negotiations in 1994-95, to the most recent ones in 2002, have eventually all collapsed or stalemated in the end.
This might have something to do with the fact that the LTTE are a proscribed terrorist organisation. The discrimination against LTTE in negotiations that give full representation to the views of the Sri Lankan Singalese government is a key part of the problem and the ongoing political stalemate. As a former colonial territory which existed in its own right alongside the Singalese nation, the Tamil Nation has not received true recognition for it’s own history and how it came about. Any historical analysis of this situation is similarly never examined.
Several Tamil MPs elected in the last pariamentary elections in the country in 2004 have been murdered, including Mr Maheswaran and Nadarajah Raviraj. Veteran Eastern Province Parliamentarian Joseph Pararajasingham was shot dead last year at the St. Mary's Cathedral in Batticaloa during midnight mass for Christmas.
Land grab under the guise of development
The Mahaweli Development Project, the largest single development programme undertaken by the Government of Sri Lanka so far, which started in 1977, included the construction of a cascade of large dams along river Mahaweli, channelling water to irrigation projects in the drier north-central parts of the island and provided hydroelectric power from 3 dams. The scheme had the added effect of splitting the north and east of the country, dividing the Tamil enclave with large resettlement of the Singalese population occurring – principally a land grab under the guise of development. Environmental effects included a rise in the watertable thus necessitating drainage and increased salinity in some areas and contamination of natural water ways due to high usage of agrochemicals in agricultural practices. Additionally, the Victoria dam wiped out the last habitat of the Veddha tribe, a dam built by UK-based Balfour Beatty which was allegedly completed in part-exchange for military armaments.
Recent military offensives in the north by government forces which swept entire populations of Tamils into the enclave in the north east over recent months have resulted in a widespread dispersal of munitions and landmines in forests across the region.
China’s ‘String of Pearls’
Observers have pointed to the fact that China is quietly strengthening its strategic position in the Indian Ocean. China’s strategic interest in the island, underscored by it’s military assistance to the Sri Lankan government, is manifest in the building of a $1 billion port at Hambantota on Sri Lanka's south coast, to use as a refuelling and docking station for its navy - an essential component of China’s need to secure shipping lanes across the Indian Ocean and through the Straits of Melaka and the South China Sea for it’s supplies of Saudi oil. To safeguard its shipping, China needs to be capable of projecting power into the Indian Ocean, the Middle East and Africa. From ports and airfields like Hambantota, sited along the Eurasian seaways like a 'string of pearls', Chinese forces could gather intelligence, protect its shipping and attack hostile navies. [Source: The Strategist - Ref:
http://kotare.typepad.com/thestrategist/2009/05/chinese-in-sri-lanka.html ]. Ever since Sri Lanka agreed to the plan, in March 2007, China has increased military aid and arms sales to Sri Lanka. China became it’s biggest arms supplier in the 1990s; in April 2007, Sri Lanka signed a classified $37.6 million (£25 million) deal to buy Chinese ammunition and ordnance for its army and navy, according to Jane’s Defence Weekly, and according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, China gave Sri Lanka — apparently free of charge — six F7 jet in 2008. China’s aid to Sri Lanka jumped from a few million dollars in 2005 to almost $1 billion last year, replacing Japan as the biggest foreign donor. [Source: “Chinese billions in Sri Lanka fund battle against Tamil Tigers”, The Times Online, May 2, 2009 – Ref:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6207487.ece ]. China’s impartiality in taking their seat as a permanent member of the UN Security Council must be questioned in this respect.
IMF loan denounced
Following the 750bn IMF Emergency funding received at the recent G20 leader's Summit in London in April, the first real test to any improvement in the abysmal human rights record of the International Monetary Fund has been fortified by a 'letter before (legal) action' to the British Government. In the letter sent to high level British Government officials, Public Interest Lawyers, a group of attorneys representing a Tamil activist group in UK, charge that in light of the Sri Lankan Government's systematic and gross violations of international humanitarian and human rights law "the UK under international law has various obligations, namely, to denounce and not recognise the situation in Sri Lanka as lawful [and] not to render aid and assistance to Sri Lanka. Amongst other things, the letter seeks:
“An immediate, clear and unequivocal declaration that the UK government will vote against the proposed $1.9 billion IMF emergency support loan to the Sri Lankan government.”
End Game no nearer
A victory by the Sri Lankan state at this juncture is no victory even for that state.
The Sri Lankan state in aiming for feudal or colonial ambitions, will never end the actual war in this way. The LTTE and the struggle are not only sure to survive but will find resurgence in a more severe Form, returning to an underground resistance with the return of suicide bombing as a tactic.
Furthermore, the current military operations and the possible incompleteness of them in the annihilation of the LTTE leadership, which Colombo is soon going to realise and going to complain about, will serve only for its excuses of not agreeing to meaningful political solutions.
This article (or version thereof) will be published in the Summer issue (Issue No-7) of 'The Land ' magazine
Ref:
http://www.tlio.org.uk/TheLand/index.html Ref for this article:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LegacyofColonialism/message/2100 Further sources of info:
Bloodbath unfolding in Sri Lanka
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/05/429989.html Tamil humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka deepens, world looks away
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LegacyofColonialism/message/2090 Tamil solidarity event this Sunday
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/05/430270.html
Together 4 Tamils
Homepage:
http://www.infobass.com/t4t/
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Poem
16.05.2009 19:12
In the Ceylon of the night.
What immoral hack or BBC,
Would mourn thy death desultory?
Observer
Meanwhile back in the real world
16.05.2009 20:02
Troops’ Advance in “NFZ” & Search Operations in Other Areas Continue
WANNI: ARMY troops continued their thrust further into terrorist-held areas in “New Safe Zone” and attacked pockets of terrorists causing extensive damages to terrorists during Friday (15).
During search and clear operations subsequent to confrontations in the general area of PALAMATTALAN, 53, 55 and 58 and Division, troops recovered thirty-three LTTE dead bodies, two LTTE decomposed dead bodies, two hundred and six T-56 weapons, one 12.7 mm gun, two paddle guns, four Multi Purpose Machine Guns (MPMG), one Navy-boat gun, one radar, six suicide boats, three Light Machine Guns (LMG), seven FNC weapons, two 2.0 mm grenade launchers, one M-16 weapon, one hundred and twenty-seven 60 mm mortar launchers, sixty-five 60 mm mortar sites, nine Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG), twelve 2 mm mortar guns, eighteen disposable RPGs, two thermo-baric weapons, forty hand paras, one 12.7 mm tri-pod, five 12.7 mm barrels, four 12.7 mm drums, five T-56 magazines, two LMG drums, one sniper weapon, four I-com sets, one suicide kit and sixty rounds of T-56 ammunition.
Meanwhile, troops engaged in search and clear operations in the general areas of MANKULAM, THONITHETTAMADU and KALAMANTHANWELLAI recovered one I-com set, five anti personnel mines, one T-56 weapon, one T-56 magazine, thirty rounds of T-56 ammunition, one pouch, one 82 mm mortar tube, one hundred and fifty-four 81 mm mortar bombs and one 152 mm projectile the same day (15).
The same day, two hundred and ninety-eight (298) 60mm smoke bombs, one anti tank mine, four hundred and fifteen anti personnel mines, one hundred and nineteen anti personnel min fuses, three hundred and four hand grenades, seventy claymore mines, four Bangalore torpedoes, one hundred and ninety-nine primers, thirty-two electric detonators, seven Out Boat Motors (OBM), one hundred and thirty-nine 60mm bombs, eighty 81 mm bombs, three 122 mm projectors, twenty-nine Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG), 5 kg TNT explosives, one Arul-type bomb, twelve jackets, forty-three booby traps, forty booby trap fuses and ten firing devices from PUTHUKUDIYIRIPPU area on Friday (15).
Similar search operations in VISUAMADU area the same day (16) recovered forty-six 81mm bombs, six 82 mm bombs and ten 152 mm dummy barrels.
Ammo & Explosives Found
EAST: TROOPS on search and clear operations in the general area of MAILAMBAWELI on Friday (15) recovered twenty-nine rounds of 9 mm ammunition, one SFG type hand grenade, one cyanide capsule and one Army-type uniform hidden in the area following information provided by two suspects arrested by the Security Forces.
Over 9000 Reach Army-Held Areas
MULLAITTIVU: A TOTAL OF 9347 civilians reached the Army controlled areas on Friday (15). 4909 of them reached the 53 Division area, 3681 reached the 58 Division area and 757 reached the 59 Division area.
Influx of civilians is still continuing.
58 & 59 Division Troops Link Up Together Depriving LTTE of Coastal Belt
MULLAITTIVU: TROOPS entering final phase of the rescue operation in the “New Safe Zone” made another breakthrough when 58 Division marching from the north linked up with 59 Division troops who were forging ahead northbound in the New Safe Zone at the crack of Saturday morning (16)
Accordingly, troops of the 11 Gemunu Watch in 59 Division and 11 Sri Lanka Light Infantry in 58 Division have taken control of the entire eastern coastal area since this morning (16).
Speeding LTTE Bus with Explosives Fired upon & Blasted
MULLAITTIVU: ANOTHER attempt by desperate Tiger terrorists to cause destruction to the Army Defence Line in KARAYAMULLIVAIKAL was foiled by the troops this morning (16) around 10.00 a.m..
Having observed a bus speeding towards the troops from the direction of LTTE-held areas, soldiers activated and opened fire at the bus which instantly turned into a ball of fire with a huge explosion before it reached the Army Defence Line.
A huge column of black smoke spiraled into the sky as the explosive-laden vehicle was reduced to ashes.
At the time these photos were taken, the bus was still ablaze as the second and third photos depict.
LTTE’s 152 mm Artillery Gun Found
MULLAITTIVU: A 152 mm artillery gun of Tiger terrorists was found from the liberated area of WELLAMULLEVAIKKAL late afternoon Friday (15) by the troops. The barrel of the gun had been removed by the fleeing Tigers when it fell to the Army hands. Troops believe that the barrel has been buried in the vicinity. Search operations are continuing.
One More LTTE’S Diabolical Lie Bared
MULLAITTIVU: CONTINUING distortion of facts and gross disinformation, spread by LTTE terrorist lobbyists seems to have been in some cases naively bought and meticulously re-planted in the western media with the sheer intention of tarnishing the image of the government and the Security Forces.
In the past couple of days, terrorists went on making a sustained hue and cry over an alleged bombardment of a Tsunami Housing project in the “New Safe Zone” (NSZ) by Army troops who have by now brought the area in question under their control.
Foreign media with no regard to what a legitimate Army has been telling launched a massive pro-LTTE media propaganda network to allege the Army has deliberately shelled the houses in the “No Fire Zone”. These images are a clear proof that no such damage has been caused.
Tiger propagandists and their video and camera footages with stage-managed shots wanted the IC to step in and stop their elimination. They simultaneously wanted the world to believe that ground troops, contrary to the assurances given, were still using heavy weapons in the NSZ and carrying out attacks on civilian concentrations. The case in point was the newly constructed Tsunami housing project in VELLAMULLAVAIKKAL.
The photos just taken after the troops brought that area under their control reassert that none of the roofs in the housing complex had received at least shrapnel of a weapon, to say the least. Had there been heavy weapon attacks as Tiger lobbyists screamed, how come those buildings, their side walls, concrete poles and roofs remained intact? (see photos)
Tiger propagandists have in many instances forced civilians to take stage-managed scenes to the LTTE’s advantage. In the same vein, terrorists and their cohorts stick to present-day technology and distort images while twisting them, again to their advantage. Let not the intelligent be duped any longer as time is running out for terror mechanism.
TORTURE CHAMBER SUPERVISED BY PRABHAKARAN FOUND
MULLAITTIVU: ONE MORE heavily-fortified LTTE torture-chamber cum prison complex, run inside a three-room house behind the MULLAIVAIKKAL (VELLAMULLAVAIKKAL) sub-post office, was among the latest finds made by heroic 58 Division troops on Saturday (16) as they moved further in.
Barbarism of ruthless Tiger terrorism, that has meted out inhuman punishments to all those who opposed to Tigers or defied LTTE directives was once again proved with the tracing of this “concentration” camp or the torture chamber where Tiger leadership has reportedly detained all those who blamed him or criticized Tiger hierarchy.
The house with a wide sitting room, plus three spacious rooms has been protected closely by bunkers on the orders of the LTTE supremo, PRABHAKARAN, according to information given to the troops by escapees.
All anti-LTTE men and women had been kept imprisoned and tightly tethered to heavy metal chains, generally used for elephants. (see photos) Those metal prison cages of about 10-12 ft in height have been designed for padlocking, and another portion of the chamber appeared to have been used for beating and torturing. Unconfirmed reports had told the troops that PRABHAKARAN himself has watched his enemies under punishment. Walls around that portion have been splashed with blood stains and pieces of hair of those who would have been subjected to LTTE torture. Above one of those metal cells was a spread barbed-wire that ran until up to the roof of the house.
Tiger propagandists in the past two weeks with the help of various proxies, have been unjustly trying their maximum to liken the IDP centres in WANNI to so-called Nazi “concentration” camps since security measures have been strictly applied to the area. The move was vehemently directed to the international community. Several more open and domestic LTTE prisons were captured by troops in the past one year.
What have you got to say about these “LTTE torture chambers”? Over to you LTTE proxies and supporters !
LTTE’S SWARNAM & SHASHI MASTER REPORTED KILLED
MULLAITTIVU: SENIOR LTTE leaders SWARNAM and SHASHI MASTER were reportedly killed during last legs of confrontations between the advancing troops and terrorists.
SOOSAPILLAI JOSEPH ANTHONYDAS alias SWARNAM, born in April 1964 in TRINCOMALEE according to available information, was a senior leader of the organization.
MITHIRAN SELVARATHNAM alias SASHIKUMAR MASTER, believed to be around 40 years when he was killed by the troops, was in charge of mapping and surveying section of the LTTE organization.
NUMBER OF CIVILIANS FLED LTTE-HELD AREA ON SATURDAY EXCEEDS 11000
MULLAITTIVU: Since this morning (16), a total of eleven thousand eight hundred and seventy six (11876) civilians from LTTE-held area reached the Army troops seeking protection.
Out of the exodus, 4328 reached the 53 Division area while another 2548 reached the 58 Division area. 5000 being the largest number of escapees reported to the area under the control of 59 Division.
More Weaponry Hidden by Fleeing Tigers Uncovered
MULLAITTIVU: EXTENDED search and clear operations by the 58 Division troops in the liberated areas enabled the troops find more and more LTTE items including arms, ammunition explosives and other accessories meant for their terror activities.
Three damaged 152 mm artillery guns, one hundred and twenty-seven T-56 weapons, three 40 mm grenade launchers, one FNC gun , four 130 mm bombs, two paddle guns, one thousand one hundred and eighty-four (1184) paddle gun ammunition, one paddle gun drum, one hundred and thirty rounds of 12.7 mm gun ammunition, one grenade launcher usually used in naval craft, ten RPGs (Rocket Propelled Guns), three MPMGs (Multi Purpose Machine Guns), one radar, eleven 60 mm mortar guns, one rocket launcher, two 60 mm grenade launchers, two 12.7 mm grenade launcher, thirty 84 mm RCL (Recoilless) guns, two hundred and eighty five (285) hand grenades, six Arul type paras, seven CS gas bombs, three hands smokes, six MPMG drums, five 12.7 mm weapon drums, ten area maps, six hundred (600) MPMG ammunition, one thousand and two hundred (1200) rounds of T-56 ammunition, eight diving kits, three magnetic bombs, one hundred and ten safety fuses, four micro pistols and several more weapon accessories were among the recovered items.
Further search and clear operations are in progress.
Soon be over now
meanwhile back in reality
17.05.2009 10:24
You (no doubt either working for Sri Lankan authorities or even Chinese intelligence) said:
"Foreign media with no regard to what a legitimate Army has been telling launched a massive pro-LTTE media propaganda network to allege the Army has deliberately shelled the houses in the “No Fire Zone”. These images are a clear proof that no such damage has been caused."
>>> how daft. You and yr acolytes are suffering from an incredible disease of the brain which has stultified your grasp of rational thought and basic logic. Dearie-dear.
To quote someone else, here is the truth of the matter:
"What we are seeing in Srilanka is Genocide. The Srilankan government has been trying to eliminate the Tamils for centuries. Tamils consists of 25 percent Srilanka; if the tigers (LTTE) did not exist the Tamils would have been wiped off completely in Srilanka. According to Doctors Without Border last week at a refugee camp a body of a 16 year old girl was found. According to medical report Doctors cleaned out 1.8L of Semen from her body, she was rapped by the Srilankan Army. This is not new there; there are many cases like this that has been happening. The media intends to not cover the issues mainly because Srilankan government has banned all media personal covering the warzone.
" (anon)
bulls**t detector
Observer.
17.05.2009 13:56
First, proscribe your enemy by using the media to spread disinformation, invite run-of-the-mill moderates to endlessly but pointlessly argue over whats to be done. Then wait for a few 'incidents' to happen so you can claim to the world that you really are very hard done by. Go to the IMF to get a loan to cover your costs then wage the war.
Second, adopt the methods used by your 'enemy'. If you claim them to be terrorists, then your methods must be essentially terrorist in nature. Routinely make statements that are designed to weigh down your domestic population along the lines that if the war is not fought, then their way of life and everything they aspire to will come to an end. Ideally, link your enemy to a threat that has something of the 'end of the world' about it.
Third, absolutely ban the media. If you find that some joker has snuck in and you find them...shoot them and blame it on your 'enemy'.
Fourth, it is very very important to maintain a sense that your are completely out of control. Ideally, present yourself as something close to insane or in desperate need of psychiatric help. This will allow you to operate with almost complete impunity. Moderates will not argue with you because they won't know how.
Fifth, If you make a mistake, blame it on your 'enemy'. If a large number of people are dying, blame it on your 'enemy. If any tactical problem presents itself, claim your 'enemy' were responsible.
Six, from time to time you will need to concentrate minds and so it will be helpful to lure innocent people into highly dangerous situations.
For instance, if your 'enemy' are hiding behind earth defences which you are having trouble breaching, then have your troops punch a hole in a small section, withdraw them to a safe distance and wait for your 'enemy' to range their weapons on that spot. Just before they do this, force innocent civilians out through the gap and wait for the shells to do the damage. Claim your 'enemy' did this and that the innocent civilians are being used as human shields.
Seven, absolutely DO NOT allow the international community to send in independent observers. This will blow the whole game and you will be made.
When the war is over and you can claim victory (just before an election, which you will have planned for) then you will need to make a defensive, cloched government structure that is secretive, disingaged and 'funds itself'.
Finally, seek international friends that you can run to when the retaliations get underway.
Throughout, state that history wil absolve you. You don't need to beleive this, but continually make the claim anyway.
Tiger Tiger.
The Sri Lankan government hasn't existed for centuries...
17.05.2009 20:41
Given that Sri Lanka (or Ceylon as it was) only became independent from Britain in 1948, after a lengthy period of British, Dutch and Portuguese colonialism, this claim is laughable.
Rest assured that the Tamils are not going to be "eliminated" and will be in Sri Lanka long after the LTTE are gone.
"1.8L of semen". Now this is just grotesque. How many hundreds of soldiers are meant to have raped this poor woman?!
It is important to understand that for the terrorist the most important weapon isn't the suicide bomber or the IED but misleading and emotive propaganda. Not being able to match their enemy in numbers or firepower, the terrorist uses propaganda about civilian casualties or atrocities to try and discredit or limit the action of his opponent and thereby tilt the balance in favour of the militarily weaker side.
Numbers of casualties are inflated or invented entirely, casualties inflicted by the terrorists themselves are passed off as the fault of the opponent etc. Terrorists deliberately cause mass civilian casualties, such as have been repeatedly seen in bombings of markets, mosques etc in Iraq in the hope that "the war" in general and therefore their opponents will be discredited. In this the terrorist knows that due to his illegal status and secretiveness he is far less vulnerable to criticism and public opinion than his opponent, which makes the propaganda war all the more effective to him.
Observer
SLA burying the evidence of war crimes
17.05.2009 23:22
Tamil Tigers have laid down their weapons after, in the past 24 hours, over 3000 civilians lie dead on the streets while another 25,000 are critically injured with no medical attention. Thousands are in bunkers in the 2km sq enclave they are held captive within.
Sri-Lankan forces have been witnessed digging holes with mechanical diggers, as claims of numbers who have fled the area remain unverified. The UN is being called on to verify this. Meanwhile, there are reports that among those civilians who have been taken out of the area by SL forces, children are being seperated from their parents.
There is evidence that some civilians were stopped from leaving by the tigers, but many civilians are family members of rebel troops (note I use the term 'rebel troops' not the SLA & international community's preferred term 'terrorist'). SLA troops, and similarly the Israeli army, deserve that label much more.
.
BD
and
17.05.2009 23:33
artillery fire on the defenceless civilian captive population in the so-called 'no fire zone'.
BD