”UNCEASING WAVES – 2” – GREAT BATTLE OF KILINOCHCHI

“Unceasing Waves – 2” refers to the LTTE´s military operation aimed at recapturing Kilinochchi, the key city of Tamileelam captured by the Sri Lankan government forces.

Background

In early 1996, the LTTE withdrew completely from the Jaffna peninsula. And in July of the same year, LTTE recaptured Mullaitheevu Base by the operation“Unceasing Waves -1”. Following the capture of Mullaitivu, the Sri Lankan Army captured the LTTE-held city of Kilinochchi at the end of the year under the operation ‘Satjhaya’ in three phases. The government launched a major military operation under the name of “Jayasikuru”. The aim of the government forces was to capture the land and the main supply route between Vavuniya and Kilinochchi. While this “Jayasikuru” operation was underway, the LTTE launched an offensive planning to recapture Kilinochchi. The attack on Kilinochchi on February 2nd 1998 did not give the LTTE the expected success. “Jayasikuru’s” action continued after that. The LTTE once again captured Kilinochchi. This time the LTTE won a complete victory.

Attack

In the night of September 26th 1998, LTTE launched the military operation “Unceasing Waves – 02”. It was also the night of the eleventh anniversary of Lt. Colonel Thileepan, a key member of the LTTE, who sacrificed his life via a non-violent hunger strike against the Indian Peace Keeping Force. Kilinochchi was recaptured and was under the complete control of the LTTE after three days of heavy fighting in September 29th.

How was Kilinochchi recaptured? “Unceasing Waves – 02” – How did Kilinochchi rescue happen?

The 3rd Battalion of the 54th Division of the Sri Lanka Army, led by Brigadier Upali Edirisinghe, occupied the Kilinochchi area in 1996. The Sri Lankan forces occupied Kilinochchi on 22.09.1996, advancing at a speed of 12 km in three phases for 70 days. The government forces claimed this to be the final battle against the LTTE through the military operation ‘Satjhaya’ which began on 26.07.1996. More than one and a half lakh people were displaced that day due to this occupation. “Satjhaya” has swallowed up 60 sq km of land in the 1,279 sq km Kilinochchi district where the Elephant Pass and Paranthan bases are already located.

“Unceasing Waves – 2”

The LTTE fought for only 15 days against in this operation. The Sri Lankan government forces launched shells at the LTTE at a rate of 3,000 shells per day, and two Kibir planes bombing four times. According to a study, the shells used by the Sri Lankan forces weighed 500 tons and the Kibir bombs weighed 325 tons, making a total of 825 tons of ammunition for “Sathjaya”.

It is the LTTE’s first successful use of conventional warfare and the LTTE’s first use of unnamed firearms, including a 120 mm mortar. More than 700 soldiers were killed and more than 2,500 wounded in the fighting. 254 LTTE fighters became heroes. On the day of the fall of the Sri Lankan government forces on 27.09.1998, the LTTE made several casualties in Kilinochchi.

“Unceasing Waves – 2” started. Today the canals are with clear water – it ws once filled with the blood of the fighters, who became heroes now. With every step we take today, the bodies of many LTTE fighters were found lying on the ground. Fifteen years ago today, the “Unceasing Waves – 02” took place. The fighters who chased the enemy backwards on the battlefields that day remembered the battle.

On the 7th anniversary of “Unceasing Waves – 02” the spy fighters share the undisclosed information on the infiltration attack on the enemy’s camps. How the spies, who observed the enemy’s every move inside, infiltrated the enemy’s positions and how they gathered information for the attack. Lieutenant Colonel Jerry, who was one of the commanders of the Special Intelligence Service at the time, was instrumental in securing many new pieces of information that led to its success.

Before the spy operation for the ”Unceasing Waves – 02” began, we had some surveillance around the military guards in the Kilinochchi area. We accelerated this reconnaissance operation within a month of the operation ”Unceasing Wave – 02”. Initially, only special spies saw this. We completed this by involving each legion in this reconnaissance operation to spy on unloading teams into battle. There were a lot of problems with spying in the beginning and spying in the later stages. What we do is spy on other activities and see if there is a problem at a particular location 500 or 600 meters away. But as far as this area is concerned. There was a need to take the path to the place mentioned for us. Because there was a level at which it could be easily captured only if there was a break in that space. At the same time the breaking area was where the enemy could expect. A spy team of three can infiltrate and spy. But when the great team was moving the enemy had to spy unnoticed.

The problem was less at the beginning but in the days that followed the threats of the enemy’s ambush teams were high on all routes. During the day and at night the enemy had stepped up surveillance operations outside his fort. It was only after this that we had to see the complete spies. That means they had to move another team safely as our team moved. We can also consider it a great achievement to be able to see the spies moving through the possible paths. In which all the spy fighters worked hard.

In the last stages they worked day and night completely without rest. Because the full responsibility of the fight rests with the spy. In fact, if a spy is going into dangerous areas without respecting his life, its real purpose is to reduce the casualties of other fighters along the way if he returns alive. If there are problems with the spy, there may be losses, so the spy fighters will realize this and engage in it. If a battle is won, its initial success will depend on the spy.

As far as this “Unceasing Waves – 2” was concerned, the teams started fighting all the way for the allotted time and broke the whole path and entered. A team of 50 people quietly went inside and got into a fight.

The advantage for the spy fighters in this area was that the walking distance was short. These fighters were unable to rest in the last stages of the operation. This is because they will not expect rest as it will lead to a major change in the fight if they did. Because on the first day of the fight he had to take another path if there was a problem on the way to the move. There are a lot of things to look for when selecting yours. Each path must be in our favor so as not to miss the enemy as the teams move along the path. Must be an immobile part of the enemy’s ambush teams. The path should be taken only after observing many things like this. That is, the fighter must take the necessary path at any level.

There is one thing to note in “Unceasing Waves – 2” which is that we involved a team in this within a short period of time after completing the training. The skillful performance of some of the fighters in providing them with espionage training is also important in this fight.

2nd Lieutenant Raghuvaran had a distinct courage, movement and character when initially sent to work projects. We observed his talent and engaged him in the process of taking this path. His performance would have been very different in the analysis carried out after the paths were taken. As well as how an experienced spy would operate, he also observed the activities of the army very closely. That is how every spy acted. The task of the spies is to win in the event of a fight, move the teams according to plan and start the fight, climb the earthen ramparts, and capture the guards.

We had a major crisis while taking some routes. This is because the area is an outlying area, where enemy forces have been spying and carrying out large-scale attacks. In this case, the person in charge on the first day of the fighting said that if the route was not taken by this area, we would have informed the fighters on the route that the fighting would have to be stopped. That is to say, this team is the team that has to build the path that Commander Balraj Anna’s team has to go.

Therefore, we worked on it in a new way. That is, we prepare a team and move on to take the path of fighting if a situation arises where a fight arises. We took that path and moved the next day’s teams through it due to the skillful performance of those fighters even in the face of extreme dangers.

Sukanthiran, a fighter, was in charge of one area. If they go down into the pond water at 6.30 pm they will come ashore only after 4.30 am. They observed for a long time from the water up to 10 o’clock. It was very difficult for teams to move quietly within it and had to spy accordingly. Accordingly the teams were moved by the area within the specified time. Spy fighters will also be involved in providing combat training to the teams, as their guidance will be essential to the teams.

All the fortifications that the fighting teams had to move and capture were captured by one area. For this Lep. Colonel Sidda went into charge. Later in the day, when the army began to fight fiercely, the guns of this team went into the water and became inactive, thus increasing the loss to the team. Up to 40 people, including Colonel Sidda, became heroes in the pond. There was also chaos on another path. The commanders in charge of the day said that it was only through the skillful spying of the spies that the LTTE was able to win the operation ”Unceasing Waves – 2”. Infiltration in “Unceasing Waves – 2” is also important as far as this is concerned the fighters infiltrated and spied very accurately even though the enemy was aware that the spies had infiltrated the camp. That is, the spy fighters clearly observed how high his command bases, armories, key bases, motor bases, barbed wire fences inside the enemy camp were, and even how far the inner barriers were. The spy must act accordingly. In fact, if the spy is not loyal, confident, and courageous, many of the fighters will have to become heroes, so the fact that no such action was taken in this fight shows the satisfaction of the spy. Normally by the time the fight started all the lanes were organized and the teams moved and engaged in the fight within the allotted time. The death was minimal in the process of breaking the barrier in this fight.

Normally all the information gathered by the spies is sent to the national leader by the commanders. And we will make changes if the national leader himself makes plans according to the plans of the war. The leader stopped some of the paths we had already chosen in this fight. We took the next path accordingly and moved the teams.

Those who contributed to the adventurous activities of the teams of these fighters was they, who embraced to became heroes. The feeling that the next spy gets when each fighter who goes for the spy becomes a hero will increase the motivation to attack the enemy. So the sacrifice and sense of liberation of every fighter who has become a hero after every victory of our liberation is the inspiration.