Prabhakaran commands battlefront from underground

At the moment, LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran lives in one of several underground bunkers in Mullaitivu, which are all interconnected via tunnels. Well informed sources said that Prabhakaran pays his last respects to his dead comrades from these bunkers, but pro-LTTE websites claim that he goes to where the bodies are kept. However, this is not true.
Prabhakaran had summoned only a few leaders such as Theepan, Banu, Luxman, Pottu Amman and Soosai to his bunkers.
These leaders meet Prabhakaran in the night between 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. He has, reportedly, warned his leaders not to travel in the daytime, because the Army Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol teams are monitoring their movements, and to meet him individually.
When these leaders arrive to see Prabhakaran, his personal bodyguards of the Imran Pandian brigade, closely body-check them, before allowing them to see the supreme leader.
At the moment, Prabhakaran is reportedly not using any of his satellite phones, because he knows that Military Intelligence (MI) can intercept his messages. Therefore, he sends messages through his trustworthy members. How long he can do this?
In one of the discussions, Prabhakaran has reportedly given his Sea Wing leader the task of manufacturing boats fitted with 250cc and 500cc outboard motors to use as suicide boats. Prabakaran uses these boats for evacuation, unloading arms and weapons or to attack SL Navy ships anchored at sea.
A senior Sri Lanka Navy officer said that the Navy had implemented an effective naval blockade to ensure that Prabhakaran does not use these boats to leave Sri Lanka.
When Anton Balasingham suffered kidney failure, he was evacuated from the Mullaitivu coast on January 23, 1999, to an LTTE ship anchored in deep sea, which took him to Thailand, from where he flew to Norway for a kidney transplant.
The probability is that Prabhakaran will remain in Sri Lanka to command the battle. If he left Sri Lanka, who would command the LTTE?
Western intelligence agencies are keeping an eye on Prabhakaran, as he is an internationally wanted criminal.
Some powerful western diplomatic missions are, reportedly, sending their Defense attaches for the day-to-day media briefing of the battlefront situation to their respective military organisations and their secret services.
Only a matter of timeAt the moment, troops belonging to 57 Division are positioned east of Akkarayankulam, about 2 km. from Kilinochchi town, an officer from the battlefront said. Once the troops pass the jungle area, they would be able to enter Kilinochchi town.
As I mentioned in my previous column, the LTTE has evacuated from its military installations in Kilinochchi, which looks like a ghost town, but the LTTE doesn’t want to hand over Kilinochchi on a silver platter to the SL troops. The Tigers will offer as much resistance as they can, but the troops would overcome the resistance and advance gradually. Their main obstacles are ‘johnny’ mines and booby traps, while they have to face mortar and artillery fire from the Mullaitivu west area.
Having liberated the western region of the Vavuniya district and the Madhu area in the Mannar district, troops are now moving towards the western borders of the Mullaitivu district.
At present, they are on the outskirts of the strategically important Tunukkai and Mallavi towns located on the Vellankulam-Mankulam road.
57 Division troops commenced their operation opening up the Vavuniya front from the Madhu road, Giant’s Tank east, Pandivirichchan and Thampanai areas and achieved the largest area domination by liberating Madhu, Palampiddi, Mundumurippu and Periyamadhu areas.
Later, they combined with Task Force 1 marching ahead on the Mannar front, making the Mannar-Vavuniya front the largest battlefront ever maintained against the Tigers. Then they entered the Mullaitivu district crossing the southwestern district border and have so far liberated Naddankandal, Chiraddikulam and most recently, the Kalvilan areas in Mullaitivu west.
LTTE intelligenceLTTE intelligence chief Pottu Amman has reportedly ordered his cadres living in Tamil Nadu and other parts of India, to come to Sri Lanka armed with an Indian passport, to carry out comprehensive intelligence surveillance of political leaders and high ranking military officials. And there are many Tamils armed with Muslim Passports to do intelligence work. MI is well aware of his move.
Civilian safe passage to Oddusuddan and VisvamaduSri Lanka Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka has declared Oddusuddan and Vishvamadu as safe havens for civilians, as, at the moment, there are no civilians coming to government controlled areas but, it is reliably learnt that, there are civilians from the Kokavil area trying to escape from the LTTE’s grip and enter government-controlled areas. They are reportedly being prevented from leaving. Sixteen civilians were reportedly shot and killed brutally, way when they defied orders to remain.
Troops capture Panniwedikulam earth bund in KilinochchiAt least 20 Tigers and four soldiers were killed and 27 Tigers and six soldiers wounded, when troops belonging to 58 Division commanded by Brig Shavindra Silva, captured a section of the bunker line constructed along the Nachchikudah-Akkarayankulam road at Panniwedikulam to the west of Vannerikulam in the Kilinochchi district on October 4. The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Mi-24 helicopter gunships also assisted the troops in capturing 10 bunkers constructed on the massive earth bund, military sources said. 58 Division now operates in the Kilinochchi district, having captured a four-kilometre stretch of a massive ditch and earth bund constructed by the LTTE from Nachchikudah to the Akkarayankulam tank area. Troops have also advanced nearly two kilometres from this earth bund and are in control of the Nachchikudah-Akkarayankulam road, depriving the LTTE of a vital supply route to Nachchikudah.
The Army is progressing to clear the Kilinochchi and Pooneryn areas confining the LTTE only to Mullaitivu.
At the moment, 59 Division has advanced 14 km. in the thick jungle at Andankulam and is aiming to dominate the east coast.(The bottom line)