Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

The government is engaged in an ambitious programme to establish permanent security forces bases in the Northern and Eastern Provinces as part of a strategy to thwart any possible attempt to revive LTTE terrorism. Authoritative government officials told The Island that the deployment of security forces in the Northern and Eastern Provinces as well as other parts of the country would be solely at the discretion of the military top brass.

In keeping with the government policy, the army has established the 68 Division headquarters at Sugandirapuram, Puthukudirippu east of the Kandy-Jaffna A9 road. Army Chief Lt. General Jagath Jayasuriya on Thursday (22) visited the new headquarters to meet senior officers and men deployed in the area.

Lt. General Jayasuriya told a gathering of men and officers that permanent bases were necessary to move security forces from private and public property currently occupied by them. Although the Jaffna peninsula had remained home to the largest concentration of forces before the outbreak of Eelam war IV in August 2006, today the single biggest deployment is in the Vanni.

The army chief appreciated the Chinese assistance to speed up the re-deployment process by making available what he called pre-fabricated technology. Lt. General Jayasuriya said: 'These types of permanent buildings were made possible due to pre-fabricated technology from China. The government wants us to vacate all buildings, belonging to the civil sector, so that owners of those buildings could reclaim them and help bring normalcy to the area. Civil life should be restored and facilitated in the area. In the future, once married quarters of the officers and the other ranks are set up in respective areas, they would be able to live with their families as well while serving the areas.'

The Army Chief thanked his officers and men for the ongoing development projects under Uthuru Wasanthaya programme in the sphere of demining, bridge building, constructions, other humanitarian projects, etc.

The newly opened headquarters is the second new command headquarters established in the area controlled by the 59 Division.

Military spokesman Brigadier Ubaya Madawela said that permanent bases were being set up both east and west of the A9 road. Responding to a query by The Island, Madawala said that some of the new constructions would come up at Tunukkai. He emphasized that all new bases would be set up on State land, though some accused the government of taking over private land.

According to him, as part of the re-deployment in a post-LTTE era, a section of the 53 Division had been moved to the South to intensify security and also to assist in development programmes. The 53 Division troops are deployed in Galle, Hambantota and Moneragala, while a section of troops remained at Mankulam. Major General Amal Karunasekera, formerly head of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) recently took over the 53 Division.

Brigadier Madawala said that the army was making an effort to vacate private property occupied by troops deployed in the Jaffna town area. He said that due to severe space constrains they were finding it difficult to move troops, though they were looking for ways and means of finding alternative accommodation for them.

The army consists of 200,000 personnel. It numbers increased exponentially due to massive recruitment drives carried out during Eelam war IV to strengthen fighting formations.

North Korea is again in the news. It is alleged that a North Korean torpedo sank the South Korean corvette a few months ago. Due to unique specifications of North Korean weapons it has been easy to identify weapons originating from there anywhere in the world. North Korean weapons heading to terrorist groups is a hot topic of defence analysis around the world. Tamil Tigers are one such terrorist group that benefited from the North Korean connection and Tamil section still benefit from it. Tamil Tigers entered record books for their daring seaborne suicide missions and the wide array of armaments including ships, attack boats, submarines, torpedoes, human torpedos, under water demolition teams, suicide boats, floating warehouses and an active feeder boats service.

The torpedo that sank the ship has been prototyped in this picture from the South Korean Defence Ministry. www dailymail co uk North Korean torpedo DID sink Souths navy ship propellor lettering proves.

It shows an eerie resemblance to Tamil Tiger torpedos that were suspected to be from North Korean origin. These pictures taken by the Sri Lanka army shows Tamil torpedos procured most likely from North Korean sources. army lk detailed php?NewsId=854

Tigers buried these underground to avoid detection in carefully planned yards. How and when they were transported to the island is not known. Sri Lankan forces don t use torpedos or any other underwater explosive devices. Had the Tamil Tigers the capability to take these into the sea and launch them, the impact would have been catastrophic. Similarities include the type of propeller, the length, the shape and the generation.

Tamil Tigers are the only terrorists in the world to use submarines. Their submarine technology was so developed that a midget submarine manufacturing factory was located by security forces. This video clip shows the extent of the operation. liveleak com view i=b94 1233480850

Also the following report details the tiger submarine building operation. militaryphotos net forums showthread php?150716 Army Finds Tamil Tiger Rebel Submarine Factory In Jungle&p=3889838

Once again the genre of midget submarines point to a North Korean connection. Tamils seems to have been dealing with businesses operated from Pyongyang for a very long time to buy weapons and get the technology transferred.

In 2006 a Tamil with LTTE connections was arrested accused of trying to smuggle cocaine in a semi-submersible home made submarine. It is clear evidence how Tamil Tigers around the world share North Korean technology for illegal activities.

A report written by Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the USA points out North Korean arms and training to Tamil Tigers and Hezbollah fighters. in reuters com article idINIndia-30964520071213

The CRS report stated that Sankei Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper, in September 2007 published a report that North Korea had shipped arms to Tamil Tigers. These wide ranging news sources all confirm the strong connection North Korea had with Tamils whose arms procuring and money collection racket runs around the world.

This report quotes from reputable defence sources how Sea Tigers used rare North Korean manufactured 107mm rockets to attack Sri Lanka navy vessels in Trincomalee in 2000. lankalibrary com pol korea htm

However, it was not only Tamil Tigers that engaged North Korean capabilities. After the defeat of Tamil Tigers in 2009, Tamils still use North Korean capabilities. The North Korean ship Ocean Lady is still being used by Tamil groups for human trafficking. canada com news Migrant ship seized coast belongs Tamil Tigers experts 2142102 story

A concerted global mechanism is needed to route Tamils North Korean connection that is currently engaged in transferring terrorist capabilities, drug trafficking and human trafficking. Defeat of Tamil Tigers has not stopped this lucrative trade.

The Naval Ship Wang Geon of Republic of Korea arrived at the Port of Colombo on a goodwill visit (22nd July 2010). On her arrival, she was ceremonially welcomed by the Sri Lanka Navy. Ambassador of Republic of Korea in Sri Lanka His Excellency Chai Ki-chul and over 100 South Korean citizens residing in Colombo were also present to greet the ship.

Wang Geon , a destroyer belonging to the Republic of Korea Navy, is 149 meters in length. The ship complement consists of 42 officers and 264 sailors. Wang Geon stays in Sri Lanka until 24th July and the ship crew is scheduled to participate in a series of programmes organized by the Sri Lanka Navy to enhance the relations between the two Navies during her stay.

At the end of a vicissitudinous war it is not unusual for disputes to emerge among the victors on the military and the political ingredients that contributed to their final success and, even more specifically, on who deserves credit for the victory. Such disputes have been much in evidence in Sri Lanka since the military defeat of the LTTE about fourteen months ago. Moreover, it is invariably the leaders of the successful operations against the enemy especially, the coup de gr ce that are accorded recognition as heroes of the war. Past failures and setbacks tend to be forgotten in the post-war euphoria. Perhaps the most forgettable among the episodes of failure in the course of the Eelam Wars were the debacles at Mullaitivu (July 1996) and Elephant Pass (April 2000) at which the losses suffered by Sri Lanka included many thousands of men in arms and large hauls of battle-field hardware. This brief essay is intended to spotlight a true hero of one of these episodes a man who laid down his life in a partially successful attempt to save the lives of several hundreds of his comrades-in-arms under circumstances of almost total despair.

The occasion for this tribute is the 14th death anniversary of that hero, Colonel Azlam Fazly Laphir, He was posthumously awarded Parama Weera Vibhushana Medal the highest military honour in Sri Lanka for battle-field gallantry. He, it should be noted, is the senior most officer of the Sri Lanka army to be so honoured, and one of the very few commanding officers to die while leading his men in the battle-field.

Born in Matale in 1958, he completed his school education at St. Anthony s College, Kandy. In accordance with the wishes of his father, the late Dr. Laphir, who wanted his son to become an engineer, on completion of his schooling, young Fazly secured a scholarship to proceed on his higher studies in Libya. However his lure was in an entirely different direction which was to join the Sri Lanka Army at that time, a relatively small but glamourous outfit.

From the very outset, his army career was featured by dedication, skill and exceptional overall competence. He was one of the pioneering officers in the first Gajaba Regiment. When Lt. Col. Vijaya Wimalaratne inaugurated the Special forces squadrons scheme to counter the intensifying threat posed by the guerrilla war tactics of the LTTE, Fazly was appointed the officer in charge of the first such unit which had several skirmishes with the fledgling militant groups in the north among which the most successful was the operation in Ambuweli in 1983. He was a founder member of the Thirty-Five Gang /'Combat Tracker Team formed in 1985. He was a member of the Rapid Deployment Force formed in the nineteen eighties. As a pioneer member of the First Regiment of the Special Forces , Fazly s involvement extended to all its aspects including even the design of the cap, badge and the insignia. His reputation for physical courage earned him from his colleagues the affectionate nickname of suicide express . One of the memorable demonstrations of his willingness to risk his life against almost insurmountable odds is found in the annals of the rescue mission he took part in across the Jaffna lagoon to reach the troops besieged in Jaffna Fort. Over time, he acquired a mastery of the military geography of Jaffna peninsula. This, according to well informed sources, turned out to be invaluable in the re-establishment of government control over that region in 1995. Meanwhile, he was also involved in strengthening the army camp at Mullaitivu which was mainly intended to control the LTTE smuggling operations along the north-east coast.

His fateful day came when the Sri Lanka army camp at Mullaitivu was surrounded by the terrorists on 18 July 1996. Mullaitivu was of strategic significance to the Tigers because of its central location along the north-eastern seaboard. Although a massive SL army garrison had been placed in its command area of 8.5 kms, the camp was vulnerable to enemy attack, being relatively isolated the nearest main SL army camps being at Welioya 35 kms to its south and Elephant Pass 55 kms to its north across hostile forested terrain. The Tiger forces surrounded the camp and started their attack at 1.30 a.m. An operation code-named Thrivida Pahara launched by the SL Army to defend Mullaitivu was severely handicapped by the fact that no reinforcements could be dispatched to Mullaitivu either by land or by the sea because of the impenetrable blockade by a larger number of Tiger battalions armed with heavy artillery and a large Sea Tiger force. It was in this situation of total despair that Lt.Col. Fazly Laphir volunteered to lead a do-or-die air-borne rescue mission manned by 275 combatants of the Special Forces under his command.

Fazly was stationed at that time at the Maduru Oya camp. From there he and his men were conveyed by helicopter via Trincomalee to Alampil (5kms south to the Mullaitivu base) around 4.30 p.m. on the same day. As expected, they encountered stiff resistance from the guerrilla forces. Earlier reinforcement operations by the Sri Lanka Air Force and the Navy had been thwarted, the resulting damage included damage to two helicopters and the gun-boat SLN Ranaviru which was blown up with its entire crew of thirty-six. Some of the most fierce fighting of the entire Eelam War were witnessed over the next few hours. Since helicopter landing on open beaches was excessively risky, Fazly and his troops had to descend to the ground along ropes amidst heavy firing. Both in the hazardous task of descending and re-grouping as well as in the deadly close-encounter combat against several thousands of well armed Tigers, Fazly is reported to have displayed such extraordinary leadership skills that his men persisted with their task, achieving a fairly degree of success and causing heavy losses to the LTTE forces. They advanced amidst fierce mortar fire but lost communication with the rear. Fazly at their vanguard was fatally wounded by a shrapnel that pierced his brain in the morning of 19 July. Though receiving no medical care, he went on fighting until, later that morning, he succumbed to his injuries. His body was evacuated three days later.

This appreciation, focused as it is on Col. Fazly Laphir, does not imply that in the annals of the Eelam Wars his heroism was unique. There were others, probably of all ranks, who, in times of impending peril, acted with the same courage and commitment that Fazly showed at the battle of Mullaitivu. We moan the fact that many among them were not destined to enjoy with us the fruits of victory. The least we must therefore do is to accord to them an everlasting place in our collective memory, and, where appropriate, help the loved ones they have left behind.

As Asian defence forces focus greater attention on land warfare strategies, they are faced with an increasing need to expand, reinforce and upgrade their armoured vehicle fleets to meet growing domestic security needs, reinforce border security and expand support to international missions.

So how will nations such as India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Republic of Korea and Thailand modernise their current armoured vehicle fleets in order to match requirements while keeping to available budgets?

Military personnel from these nations will discuss these plans, as well as current procurement methodologies, design and capability enhancements, and operational lessons at Armoured Vehicles Asia. This event takes place 12th October 13th October 2010 at the Singapore Expo in Singapore.

In a recent interview Lieutenant General Sir John Kiszely comments: In the design of armoured vehicles, the emphasis right now is on protection we also need the armoured vehicles to have the fire power that will allow them to defeat other armoured vehicles, and also to be able to hold ground. The role of armoured vehicles in future conflicts is going to be very, very diverse.

Kiszely makes a key point the future role of armoured vehicles in the Asian markets is currently in transitional phase with continuing common challenges including balancing armour, firepower and manoeuvrability. These challenges will be addressed in October, with sessions led by -

Dr Kogila Balakrishnan, Undersecretary, Defence Industrial Division, MINISTRY OF DEFENCE MALAYSIA

General Jagath Jayasuriya, Commander of Army, SRI LANKA ARMY

Col A.K.Sharma, (former) Armour Battalion Commander & Dean, Faculty of Technical Studies, INDIAN ARMY

Antonio L. Romero II, Undersecretary for Finance & Armed Forces Modernization Affairs and OIC Undersecretary for Defense Affairs, DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENSE PHILIPPINES

Lieutenant Colonel Kim Sun Young, Armoured Vehicles Project Team, DEFENSE ACQUISITION PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION (DAPA), REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Further topics at the Armoured Vehicles Asia will range from -

How Asian nations are planning to modernise armoured vehicle fleets

Procurement methodologies used throughout Asia

Relationship-building with regional defence force colleagues

Capability enhancement options

Operational lessons learnt from those that have recently returned from combat zones

TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka The sun beamed down on the Marines as they stood in full riot gear, facing sailors from the Sri Lankan Navy Special Boat Squadron.

During a Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief demonstration the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit held for the Sri Lankan Navy, Marines from Battery C, 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment taught riot control and searching techniques to sailors of the SBS.

We started by teaching them different formations when in a situation where riot control is needed, said Staff Sgt. Osman Lima, platoon sergeant, Battery C, 1st Bn, 4th Marines. We also taught them snatching procedures for an injured person or a high value target, added the Los Angeles, Calif. native.

The sailors from the SBS listened intently to the Marines, absorbing all the Marines had to teach about riot control. The Marines explained in cases of disaster relief or humanitarian aid, chaos may ensue and safe control of the crowds would be needed.

Eventually, Marines turned over their gear and gave the sailors of the SBS an opportunity to apply their newly learned techniques.