Battle of the Forward Defence Lines

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Battle of the Forward Defence Lines

Part of the Sri Lankan Civil War

Date	January 1, 2008 -
Location	Northern Sri Lanka
Result	Ongoing

Belligerents

Military of Sri Lanka

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

Commanders

Major General G. A. Chandrasiri

Strength

50,000

3,000^[1]^[2]^[3]

Casualties and losses

486 soldiers killed,
100 policemen killed,
1,000 security forces members wounded^[4]

3,900+ killed,
1,000 wounded,
350 bunkers destroyed (Government claims^[5]^[4])

Sri Lankan Civil War

Periods: First – IPKF - Second - Third – Fourth Engagements: Battles & operations – Bombings and terrorist attacks – Massacres

Main article: Northern Theater of Eelam War IV

The Battle of the Forward Defence Lines is an ongoing armed conflict in northern Sri Lanka between the military of Sri Lanka and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The conflict was initiated by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in an attempt to break through the LTTE defence lines in the north of the island and end the country's 25-year-old civil war.

1 Background
2 The battle
3 Casualties
4 References

[edit] Background

Following the defeat of the LTTE in eastern Sri Lanka and their retreat to the north in July 2007, the Sri Lankan military set its sights on the rebel-held territory in the north. On January 2, 2008, the government of Sri Lanka unilaterally withdrew from the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA), signed on February 22, 2002, with the Tamil Tigers. According to Keheliya Rambukwella, a spokesman for the government on defence issues, the "Government [of Sri Lanka] decided to officially withdraw from the Ceasefire Agreement since it is futile to continue with the Ceasefire with no indication that LTTE is willing to enter the peace path."^[6] This set the stage for the Army's attack on the Forward Defence Lines (FDL) in the island's north.

[edit] The battle

In its plans the SLA adopted new operation tactics and strategical approaches. The Army opened several battle fronts all over the LTTE controlled areas in Vanni. The clear target of the battle is the Elephant Pass. The three main FDLs, Muhamalai, Nagarkovil and Kilali Forward Defense Lines, in Jaffna district, were hit at the same time along with the FDLs in Vavuniya and Mannar districts. Over the next weeks and months army units were sent toward LTTE bunker lines in attempts to destroy LTTE bunker positions. By the end of February, although the SLA managed to destroy at least 250 LTTE bunkers they were only able to advance about few kilometers into rebel territory. However, the SLA were still slowly advancing on the A-9 highway which directly leads toward Elephant Pass. The SLA issued several calls to the LTTE to surrender before the Army's advances.

On February 20, SLA forces staged their most intense attack yet on the LTTE bunker lines. In heavy fighting 92 rebels and 3 soldiers were killed according to the government. Another 20 soldiers were wounded and five bunkers were destroyed. More intense fighting also flared up on March 5. Major engagements all along the de facto border separating territory held by the LTTE occurred and on March 8, SLA troops, backed by helicopter gunships, pushed across the front lines using tanks, mortars and artillery. 84 Rebels and 11 soldiers were killed during the close-quarters combat over those three days and nine rebel bunkers were destroyed and another four captured.

On March 22, a floating mine or a suicide attack of the northern coast of Sri Lanka claimed the lives of 10 Sri Lankan seamen. None of their bodies were ever recovered.

By early April government soldiers were battling tropical illnesses brought on by heavy rains. About 500 troops affected by dengue fever and the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus were being treated at hospitals. Also their offensive operations against LTTE frontlines stalled. SLA troops were beaten back in Vavuniya and Mannar districts.

Mid-April offensive operations against the LTTE continued and dozens of Tiger bunker positions were overrun.

On April 20, a roadside bomb set off by government soldiers in rebel-held territory in Sri Lanka killed a Roman Catholic priest who was also a human rights activist. Reverend MX Karunaratnam accused the government of committing serious human rights violations in its military campaign against the Tamil Tigers.^[7]

On April 23, a large-scale military offensive was mounted against the LTTE defence line in the northern peninsula of Jaffna. After several hours of intense fighting the SLA was beaten back with heavy casualties sustained on both sides. Like always the casualty figures were disputed by both sides of the conflict. The SLA claimed to have sustained 165 soldiers killed, 20 missing and 84 wounded in the day-long battle while they killed 100 militants. In contrast the LTTE said they themselves lost 25 men. Whatever the numbers this was the costliest battle yet for the SLA since the October 2006 debacle when 129 soldiers were killed and 515 wounded after a LTTE counter-offensive in Jaffna.^[8]

Two days after the failed offensive a bomb exploded on a crowded bus in the capital Colombo killing 24 passengers.

On May 16, a suicide bomber attacked a police bus in the Sri Lankan capital killing 10 people, including 8 policemen. By this point an estimated 360 rebels and 41 soldiers had been killed in the month of May according to military sources.^[9]

On May 17, the military said it captured Palampiddi town from Tamil Tiger rebels in Mannar district. A military spokesman said capturing Palampiddi was strategically important because it would block the rebels' supply route between the northern Vavuniya and Mannar districts.^[10]

On May 18, heavy fighting broke out along the frontlines in which the SLA stated that 17 soldiers were killed and 3 are missing, while 61 rebels were killed also.^[11]

[edit] Casualties

The SLA stated that, by May 31, 2008, they had killed up to 3,989 LTTE militants since the start of the year, most of them in the north. The SLA reported they suffered 611 soldiers and policemen killed in the whole country. 104 of these were killed in the month of February alone, which also saw 822 wounded.

Casualty figures provided by both sides differ wildly and cannot be independently verified. On numerous occasions it was established that the government was covering up its own casualty figures,^{[citation needed]} as on March 5, when Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva stated to the Parliament that 104 soldiers and policemen were killed in February, while the Defence Ministry reported only 63 government soldiers killed during that month and 107 soldiers since the start of the year.^[12]

Also, it had come into question^[who?] how much the government was inflating the LTTE's losses, because at the start of the year the government stated there were only 3,000 militants left, but by the end of May they reported to have killed over 3,700 militants and wounded 1,000, which would mean that the whole of the LTTE has already been destroyed.^[13]^[14]