Second Battle of Elephant Pass

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Second Battle of Elephant Pass
Part of the Sri Lankan civil war
Date April 22, 2000 - April 23, 2000
Location Elephant Pass, Sri Lanka
Result Tamil Tiger victory
Belligerents
Military of Sri Lanka Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Commanders
Unknown Velupillai Pirabakaran
Strength
17,500 4,000
Casualties and losses
204 killed, 357 wounded 150 killed
 
Sri Lankan Civil War

The Second Battle of Elephant Pass was a battle fought in April 2000 for the control of the Sri Lankan military base of Elephant Pass. The battle was codenamed by the LTTE as Operation Unceasing Waves III.

[edit] Background

Also see First Battle of Elephant Pass

Once before, in 1991, the LTTE attempted to take the Elephant Pass base. However they failed, their attack was beaten back with almost 1,000 dead on both sides. Now they were preparing for another attempt. The Elephant Pass isthmus was of strategic importance as it linked the northern mainland known as Wanni with the Jaffna Peninsula. Both the Jaffna-Kandy road, the A-9 Highway, and the railway line to Jaffna run through Elephant Pass, and the narrow strip of land was in a sense the gateway to Jaffna. Elephant Pass was fought to be an impregnable military complex. Before the battle the LTTE seized the southern defences around Elephant Pass and then severed the sea link to the base by capturing the area around Vettilaikerny, and then cut the main northern highway, threatening to completely isolate the base.

[edit] The Battle

On April 22, 2000 the LTTE attacked the twin complexes of Iyakachchi and Elephant Pass, pounding the government positions. LTTE's special forces and commando units stormed into the Iyakkachchi military base in the early hours of the morning in a multi-pronged assault and overran the well-fortified camp after several hours of intense fighting. LTTE commandos who penetrated the central base destroyed several artillery pieces, tanks, armoured vehicles and ammunition dumps. With the fall of Yakachchi and with the collapse of the command structure of its defending troops, the LTTE combat units moved swiftly and stormed into Elephant Pass from different directions. By late in the evening the military was in full retreat from the camps toward the city of Jaffna to fortify their positions.

The LTTE captured: three long-range 152MM artillery pieces, two 122MM artillery pieces, twelve 120MM heavy mortars, one 25MM canon, several 50 caliber machine guns, hundreds of rocket propelled grenades and thousands of automatic rifles. The Tigers also captured several armoured vehicles, tanks, military trucks, bulldozers and high-tech communication systems. The battle of Elephant Pass will be remembered as the biggest military debacle in the history of the Sri Lankan military. In the end 204 soldiers and 150 rebels had been killed. Another 357 soldiers were wounded.

[edit] After Elephant Pass

The fighting continued until mid-May for the control of the Jaffna peninsula and by May 9, the deputy defence minister reported that 758 soldiers were killed, 2,368 wounded and 349 missing since the battle for Elephant Pass started April 22. The LTTE forces were stopped just 45 kilometers east of Jaffna.

On September 3, 2000 the army mounted a counter-offensive to try and retake some of the LTTE-held territory east of the city of Jaffna, but after advancing a few kilometers they were beaten back by the Tigers. In all 514 soldiers and 20 Tamil rebels had been killed in the Army offensive.

In 2006 fighting was renewed for control of the Jaffna peninsula. In August an LTTE offensive was conducted against the SLA-held city of Jaffna but again they were beaten back with heavy casualties on both sides. Up to 70 rebels and 450 soldiers were killed. Two months later, in October, an army offensive was launched from the city against rebel territory but it was crushed and resulted in the biggest loss of life for the military in four years with 529 soldiers killed and 519 wounded, while only 22 rebels were killed.