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A. F. Lafir

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Aslam Fazly Laphir

Born1958
Kandy, Sri Lanka
Died19 July 1996
Mullaitivu, Sri Lanka
Allegiance Sri Lanka
Service/branch Sri Lanka Army
Rank Colonel
UnitSpecial Forces Regiment
Commands held1st Special Forces Regiment
Battles/warsSri Lankan civil war
Awards

Colonel Aslam Fazly Laphir, PWV, RWP, RSP, SF (last name also spelled Laffeer; 1958 - 19 July 1996) was a Sri Lankan Army officer and posthumous recipient of the Parama Weera Vibhushanaya (PWV). He was awarded the PWV for his actions leading the 1st Special Forces Regiment during the Battle of Mullaitivu in which he was killed. Colonel Laphir played a major role in the formation and development of the Special Forces Regiment from the original Combat Tracker Team.

Early life

Laphir was born in Kandy to a Muslim family[1] He was the eldest son of seven children born to Dr Mohammad Laphir and Siththi Hanul. He was educated at St. Anthony's College, Kandy where he was an around student, playing cricket and taking part in scouting. Having passed his advanced level examination in math stream, the family wanted to send him to Libya to study engineering.[2]

Military career

Laphir instead opted to join the Sri Lanka Army and was select as a cadet officer of the cadet intake no 14 (long course) of the Army Training Center in Diyatalawa on 11 August 1980. The course officer for intake no 14 was Captain Gamini Hettiarachchi. Graduating from the Sri Lanka Military Academy second in order of merit in his batch, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on 27 February 1982 into the 1st Rajarata Rifles. As a young subaltern requested to join the Commando Regiment which was turned down by his commanding officer. Following its amalgamation of the Rajarata Rifles with the Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment to create the Gajaba Regiment, he was transferred to the A company, 1st Gajaba Battalion under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Vijaya Wimalaratne. With the Gajaba Regiment Lieutenant Laphir served in the North and Eastern provinces as the Sri Lankan Civil War escalated. During this time he was attached to the military intelligence unit functioning under the Security Forces Headquarters – Jaffna due to his proficiency in the Tamil language. When this unit was absorbed into the newly formed National Intelligence Bureau, Lieutenant Laphir was transferred to it. He was invited by Major Gamini Hettiarachchi to join the newly formed Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) – Special Forces in 1985 which became the forerunner to elite Special Forces Regiment. Lieutenant Laphir led the B "Bravo" Squadron of the RDF and played major role in the development of the Special Forces operations in the early days in developing it into a formidable Special Forces unit, which specialized in rapid deployment operations, counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism warfare, reconnaissance and battle space preparation in the medium and deep battle-space and jungle warfare. He took part in the Vadamarachchi Operation with the RDF. Promoted to Captain and then Major he remined in command of the B "Bravo" Squadron taking part in major operations against the LTTE which included Operation Thrividha Balaya, Operation Sea Breeze and Operation Riviresa. He served as group commander, squadron commander, battalion second in command, chief instructor of the Special Force Training School and then was appointed commanding officer of the 1st Special Forces Regiment (1 SF) on 8 February 1996.[2]


See also

References

  1. ^ Muslims’ contribution to the unity of Sri Lanka Daily Mirror - June 26, 2012
  2. ^ a b "ANNUAL MEMORIAL LECTURE SERIES 2019 COLONEL A F LAPHIR PWV RWP RSP" (PDF). insssl.lk. Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka. Retrieved 11 November 2021.