2008–2009 Sri Lankan Army Northern offensive

Main article: Northern Theater of Eelam War IV

2008 SLA Northern offensive
Part of the Sri Lankan Civil War
Date January/February 2008 – present Location Northern Sri Lanka Result Ongoing
Belligerents
Military of Sri Lanka	Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Commanders and leaders
Major General G. A. Chandrasiri	Velupillai Prabhakaran
Strength
50,000	7,000-17,000
Casualties and losses
1,254 killed, 8,000+ wounded	1,900+ killed (LTTE claim) 9,000+ killed (SLA claim)

The 2008 SLA Northern offensive is an ongoing armed conflict in northern Sri Lanka between the military of Sri Lanka and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The battle broke with the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensive attempting to break through the LTTE defence lines in the north of the island, aiming to conclude the country's 25-year-old civil war by military victory.

Background

Following the defeat of the LTTE in eastern Sri Lanka and their retreat to the north in July 2007, the Sri Lankan military set its sights on the rebel-held territory in the north. On January 2, 2008, the government of Sri Lanka unilaterally withdrew from the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA), signed on February 22, 2002, with the Tamil Tigers. According to Keheliya Rambukwella, a spokesman for the government on defence issues, the "Government [of Sri Lanka] decided to officially withdraw from the Ceasefire Agreement since it is futile to continue with the Ceasefire with no indication that LTTE is willing to enter the peace path." This set the stage for the Army's attack on the Forward Defence Lines (FDL) in the island's north.

The battle

Probing the LTTE bunker lines

In its plans the SLA adopted new operation tactics and strategic approaches. The Army opened several battle fronts all over the LTTE controlled areas in Vanni. The clear target of the battle is the Elephant Pass. The three main FDLs, Muhamalai, Nagarcoil and Kilali Forward Defense Lines, in Jaffna district, were hit at the same time along with the FDLs in Vavuniya and Mannar districts. Over the next weeks and months army units were sent toward LTTE bunker lines in attempts to destroy LTTE bunker positions. By the end of February, although the SLA managed to destroy at least 250 LTTE bunkers they were only able to advance a few kilometers into rebel territory. However, the SLA were still slowly advancing on the A-9 highway which directly leads toward Elephant Pass. The SLA issued several calls to the LTTE to surrender before the Army's advances.

On February 20, SLA forces staged their most intense attack yet on the LTTE bunker lines. In heavy fighting 92 rebels and 3 soldiers were killed according to the government. Another 20 soldiers were wounded and five bunkers were destroyed. More intense fighting also flared up on March 5. Major engagements all along the de facto border separating territory held by the LTTE occurred and on March 8, SLA troops, backed by helicopter gunships, pushed across the front lines using tanks, mortars and artillery. 84 Rebels and 11 soldiers were killed during the close-quarters combat over those three days and nine rebel bunkers were destroyed and another four captured.

On March 22, a floating mine or a suicide attack off the northern coast of Sri Lanka claimed the lives of 10 Sri Lankan seamen. None of their bodies were ever recovered.

By early April government soldiers were battling tropical illnesses brought on by heavy rains. About 500 troops affected by dengue fever and the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus were being treated at hospitals. Also their offensive operations against LTTE frontlines stalled.

Mid-April offensive operations against the LTTE continued and dozens of Tiger bunker positions were overrun.

On April 20, a roadside bomb set off by government soldiers in rebel-held territory in Sri Lanka killed a Roman Catholic priest who was also a human rights activist. Reverend MX Karunaratnam accused the government of committing serious human rights violations in its military campaign against the Tamil Tigers.

On April 23, a large-scale military offensive was mounted against the LTTE defence line in the northern peninsula of Jaffna. After several hours of intense fighting the SLA was beaten back with heavy casualties sustained on both sides. Like always the casualty figures were disputed by both sides of the conflict. The SLA claimed to have sustained 165 soldiers killed, 20 missing and 84 wounded in the day-long battle while they killed 100 militants. In contrast the LTTE said they themselves lost 25 men. Whatever the numbers this was the costliest battle yet for the SLA since the October 2006 debacle when 129 soldiers were killed and 515 wounded after a LTTE counter-offensive in Jaffna.

Two days after the failed offensive a bomb exploded on a crowded bus in the capital Colombo killing 24 passengers.

On May 16, a suicide bomber attacked a police bus in the Sri Lankan capital killing 10 people, including 8 policemen. By this point an estimated 360 rebels and 41 soldiers had been killed in the month of May according to military sources.

On May 17, the military said it captured Palampiddi town from Tamil Tiger rebels in Mannar district. A military spokesman said capturing Palampiddi was strategically important because it would block the rebels' supply route between the northern Vavuniya and Mannar districts.

During the rest of May and throughout June heavy fighting continued in which heavy SLA air strikes resulted in the destruction of an LTTE complex in the jungle.

Mannar District.

On July 16, Sri Lankan military claimed to have captured a major coastal town, Vidattaltivu, in the Mannar District of northwest Sri Lanka from the Tamil tigers. According to BBC correspondents, Vidattaltivu was a LTTE naval base and a hub for smuggling supplies from India across Palk Strait. Vidattaltivu is the biggest town situated on Sri Lanka's North-Western coast (Jaffna lies on north coast) and was major base of Sea Tigers. The Sri Lanka Army 58 Division and Commando Brigade took over the town in an attack that was the first time Sri Lankan military was able to capture the town since the Indian Peacekeeping Force left Sri Lanka in 1990. The commandos of Sri Lanka's Army initially faced resistance from 60 LTTE cadre. But LTTE soon started withdrawal towards Iluppakkadavai as it came under heavy artillery and rocket fire. Later Sri Lankan military claimed over 30 LTTE cadre were killed. Sri Lankan troops approaching from the east of Vidattaltivu cut off the Mannar-Poonaryn Road. Finally, the troops marched into the town and captured it after 21 years. Following the capture of the town, the Sri Lankan air force attacked withdrawing Tamil Tigers. According to Air Force of Sri Lanka, Mi-24 helicopter gunships sunk two LTTE boats 4 km north of Vidattaltivu around 1:00 PM local time.

Breaking the LTTE defence line

On September 2, SLA forces managed to break through LTTE defences and captured the town of Mallavi which was regarded as a "nerve centre" for the Tamil Tiger rebels. Some 20 SLA soldiers and more than 100 rebels were killed during the battle for the town.

The same day, the LTTE conducted a counter-attack against advancing SLA troops to regain their lost bunker lines. The Army claimed to have killed 52 and wounded 65 rebel fighters. As for the SLA casualties suffered during the counter-attack the military said that they had seven soldiers killed, seven missing and 50 wounded while the LTTE claimed to have killed 75 soldiers and wounded 100.

After the taking of Mallavi the SLA started an advance on the rebel capital of Kilinochchi.

On September 9, LTTE suicide fighters, known as Black Tigers, conducted a raid on a military base in Vavuniya in coordination with two LTTE bomber planes and a rebel artillery barrage, which totaled 70 shells. The raid left 25 people dead: 12 soldiers, 11 rebels, one policeman and one civilian.

Since early September, heavy fighting was raging for the town of Nachchikuda, both on land and sea. At least 29 soldiers were killed during that battle along with 100 to 200 rebels in the month of September, according to the military. Dozens more died in October and the sea port, which was a vital base for the LTTE's Sea Tigers, finally fell on October 30.

By October 12, the SLA had come within 2 kilometers from the outskirts of Kilinochchi. Where the LTTE were preparing to defend the city with a string of concrete bunkers and trenches in a heavily mined jungle surounding the town.

The west coast falls and Kilinochchi is surrounded

Between October 18 and October 20, heavy fighting raged on the outskirts of Kilinochchi, with SLA troops attempting to break through LTTE bunker lines. During these two days 36 SLA soldiers were killed and 48 were wounded in contrast to 12 Tamil Tiger fighters killed. During the fighting the LTTE used large amounts of riot-control gas for poisounous use against the SLA. This resulted in the deaths of some soldiers and the sickening of others. Also, the military was not being able to punch through the last of the LTTE bunker lines before the city because of heavy rains due to the monsoon season and also because most of the troops were needed to secure rebel territory that was rapidly taken in the previous two months after the LTTE's quick retreat to the north. With SLA forces stretched that territory was coming under hit and run attacks by the rebels. Even the Sri Lankan Air Force was not being able to dislodge the rebels from their positions on the roads into Kilinochchi. The city had, by this point, been evacuated of all civilians and the LTTE were preparing bunker positions within the town. Earlier in the month the SLA stated they would take the rebel capital within days, however more than two weeks later operation maps at press breafings showed they were still 10 to 15 kilometers from the town, in contrast with their previous statements of being only two kilometers from Kilinochchi.

By mid-November SLA forces managed to clear the entire west coast of LTTE cadres. By November 17, the SLA captured three more strategic towns: Mankulam, Pannikankulam and Pooneryn. Mankulam and Pooneryn had been in LTTE hands for the previous nine years. 54 soldiers were killed and another 350 wounded in the battle for Pooneryn, which fell after SLA forces advanced on the Pooneryn-Paranthan road. At the same time an offensive was conducted on the Muhamalai front. There, the SLA were attempting to break through the LTTE forward defence lines. Half a dozen attacks were repulsed by the LTTE leaving hundreds of casualties among government forces. In three days between November 16 and November 19, 200 SLA soldiers were reported to have been killed and another 700 wounded in battles across the north of the country. Some opposition lawmakers put the number at 250 killed. A Sri Lankan military source said the SLA Command in Jaffna had lost contact with two battalions. However, despite this, the SLA managed to break through the first line of the LTTE's defence on the Muhamalai front on November 20, which gave the SLA another 800 yards. This left the LTTE with two more lines of defence at Muhamalai.

Battle for Kilinochchi

In December, three SLA offensives were conducted in an attempt to take the capital of the Tigers, Kilinochchi. All three were met with disastrous results.

On December 10, an offensive was blunted with the deaths of 89 SLA soldiers, the SLA claimed to have lost only 20 soldiers and killed 27 rebels.

On December 16, a multi-front offensive was launched by the SLA against Kilinochchi. That offensive too was defeated by the Tigers. According to the Tigers the SLA lost two battalions of troops, 170 soldiers dead and 300 wounded. The SLA denied this and claimed to have had only 25 soldiers killed, 18 missing (LTTE pictures released after the battle confirmed at least 27 bodies of soldiers in their hands) and 160 wounded while they killed 120 Tigers. In any case, it was a crittical victory for the Tigers at a time when they were being squeezed into the last pockets of territory they were holding. Such stiff resistance was not expected from the LTTE so late in the battle. This was mainly because the LTTE now deployed their best Special Forces members against the SLA's might, which were held back earlier.

On December 20, an LTTE counter-offensive was mounted by the Tigers as SLA forces were preparing an attempt to attack and capture a village just south of the city. In the fighting that ensued the rebels claimed to have killed 60 and wounded 150 SLA soldiers and pushed them back by two kilometers.

Casualties

The SLA stated that, by November 24, 2008, they had killed up to 9,000 LTTE militants since the start of the year, most of them in the north. In contrast the LTTE said they lost 1,900 fighters since the start of the year. The SLA also reported they suffered 1,270 soldiers killed in the whole country, only 16 were not killed in the north. Also, 434 civilians were killed in the fighting since the start of the year.

Following the implementation of the new government policy in late October to not reveal military casualties the only source on the numbers of SLA dead were the ones from the Tamils. There were also several sporadic reports by the SLA to counter-act the reports by the Tigers in the propaganda war. As such, a conservative estimate of 417 SLA soldiers were reported to have been killed since then, 30 of them in the east of the country.

Casualty numbers manipulation

Casualty figures provided by both sides differ wildly and cannot be independently verified. On numerous occasions it was established that the government was covering up its own casualty figures, as on March 5, when Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva stated to the Parliament that 104 soldiers and policemen were killed in February, while the Defence Ministry reported only 63 government soldiers killed during that month and 107 soldiers since the start of the year.

Initially the SLA stated that 185 soldiers were killed or missing during the failed offensive in the Jaffna peninsula in April, but later some military sources cited a lesser number of 49 soldiers killed. In June, parliamentary oversight prompted the release of official figures. The figures showed that 120 soldiers were killed and 945 wounded during April, which was in contrast with military statements citing 90 killed. Also the release showed that 138 soldiers were killed and 540 wounded in May, while the military claimed 92 killed.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake confirmed that during the month of September 200 soldiers were killed and another 997 wounded. This was in contrast to the claims of the Defence Ministry that only 96 soldiers were killed during that month.

Finally, after months of attempts by the military to conceal the true casualty figures, on the request of Parliament, on October 20, it was revealed that 1,099 soldiers were killed along with 396 civilians in the first nine months of the year. Some 7,000 soldiers were also wounded. Following this revelation the government implemented a new policy of not revealing any more day-to-day numbers of soldiers killed in the conflict.

Also, it had come into question how much the government was inflating the LTTE's losses, because at the start of the year the government stated there were only 3,000 militants left, but by mid-June they reported to have killed over 5,000 militants and wounded 3,000, which would mean that the whole of the LTTE had already been destroyed.