Brigadier Theepan was one of the main LTTE commanders who made great achievements on the battlefield.

Eelam war 4 Theesuvalai
Brigadier Theepan was one of the main LTTE commanders who made great achievements on the battlefield.

Brigadier Theepan.

Brigadier Theepan was one of the main LTTE commanders who made great achievements on the battlefield. Although he had made many achievements, the most important was that he had stationed forces on the Jaffna peninsula at the Kilali-Nagercoil-Muhamalai axis, the Northern front linr for many years.

I will provide you with the data behind this so that you can understand what kind of achievement he made on the battlefield.

Historical Background

In Jaffna during the period of 1999-2009, there were three divisions of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA). One of those divisions had 10,000 – 15,000 troops.

According to various sources, there were at least 40,000 soldiers in Jaffna that day.

At that time, the LTTE forces at the Kilali-Nagercoil-Muhamalai axis were around 3,000 fighters.

Commander Theepan had militarily set up his Forward Defense Line(FDL) in a very sophisticated manner in preparation for the SLA.

Attempts to Capture the Sri Lankan Army

After the capture of Elephant Pass by the LTTE in 2000, the Northern front line was formed. Up until January 2009, these areas remained under LTTE control.

After the Sri Lankan army captured Poonakary and Paranthan, the Tamils Leader Prabhakaran ordered Theepan’s troops to retreat, as it was geographically difficult to continue to retain.

In the meantime, the Sri Lankan Army had made several attempts to capture the long-forward defensive layers of the Kilali-Nagercoil-Muhamalai axis. The Sri Lankan army had waged several battles to capture these areas, but all attempts ended in failure. Some of the most important of them,

#First battle

The operation ‘Agnikeela’ (‘Theechuvaalai’ in Tamil) launched by the Sri Lankan Army occurred in April 2001.

#Second battle

In 2006, the 55th Division sought to recapture with great reservations. Within hours, 250-300 Special Forces of the 55th Division (Elite Commandos) were killed. About 800 people were injured and evacuated. This battle too ended in failure.

#Third battle:

This was launched in 2007 and went into large bloodshed on the side of SLA.

#Fourth battle

This battle was launched in April 2008 by the Sri Lankan Army as a major military operation several months after preparation.

Both the SLA’s 53rd and 55th divisions had been preparing for the last few months a Land and Naval attack on LTTE-controlled territory, some of which were nighttime operations.

In fact, they felt well prepared and well equipped with the newly formed Mechanized Infantry Division to capture both Elephant Pass and Poonagari. This battle, unlike the others, was started by a well-prepared, well-tested, and well-equipped elite commando unit (the airmobile brigade) from the whole SLA.

This brigade was considered the best of the best in the SLA.

The 53rd and 55th Division battalions with their Special Forces and Mechanized Infantry Division carried out this military advance.

With over ten hours of intense fighting, over 175 of the SLA were killed in the Northern FDL. After several hours of fighting, the Sri Lankan army retreated with the loss of about 175 troops. On the side of LTTE 25 fighters laid their lives to repulse the occupying operation of Sinhalese Forces.

I have given a summary of the most important parts of Commander Theeban’s achievements.