Operation Balavegaya
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| Operation Balavegaya | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Sri Lankan Civil War | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Sri Lankan Military |
LTTE | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Major General (later Lieutenant General) Denzil Kobbekaduwa, Brigadier (later Major General) Vijaya Wimalaratne |
Velupillai Pirabakaran | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 10,000 | 6,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 202-400 killed[1] | 573-1,000+ killed[1] | ||||||
Operation Balavegaya (Operation Power force) was a combined military operation launched by the Sri Lankan Military in Jaffna. It was the largest amphibious assault launched by the Sri Lankan Military in its history. Operation Balavegaya was launched in response to siege of Elephant Pass by the LTTE terrorists. It is believed that Operation Balavegaya was the largest and most successful military operation of the Sri Lankan Military until Operation Riviresa in 1995.
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[edit] Background
In July 1990, when Major General Denzil Kobbekaduwa took charge as the commanding officer Norther Operations, he instituted an operation codenamed "Operation Gajasinghe" to pull out troops from Kilinochchi and strengthen the camp at Elephant Pass. He also established a temporary camp at Paranthan, north of Paranthan junction, for obtaining fresh water for the camp at Elephant Pass. Subsequently, Elephant Pass camp was expanded and transformed into a massive military complex, with a main base and four mini-camps, within a stretch of land three miles in diameter. At one time, the Elephant Pass base and the satellite camps covered an area about 23 kilometers long and nearly 10 kilometers wide. About 800 troops of the 6th battalion of the Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment manned the military installations.
[edit] Battle for Elephant Pass
On the 10th of July 1991, the Army camp located at the strategically important Elephant Pass came under siege by the LTTE. The army base commanded by Major (later Major General) Sanath Karunaratne defended the camp. At that time the battle for Elephant Pass was the most violent and bloody confrontation that ever took place between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan armed forces.
The LTTE began its first assault on the camp from the south of Elephant Pass. On the very first day LTTE attacked the camp at dawn and were supported by bulldozers which were amour plated. Heavy mortars, machine guns and whatever the available fire power the LTTE had, was thrown into battle. Hundreds of cadres attempted to storm the defences of the camp wave after wave. Only a small portion of the southern defences fell into the enemy hands. The battalion stationed there heroically stood before the ferocious attack. At this juncture, Lance Corporal Kularatna of the 6th battalion of the Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment managed to climb on top of an advancing bulldozer and lobbed a grenade with total disregard to the safety of his own life. He was killed during the process of this action displaying true grit and valour. The bulldozer which would have caused much destruction was immobilized. Later this soldier was posthumously awarded Parama Weera Vibhushanaya.
On the second day, the second in command of the base, Major Lalith Buddhadasa, was killed, along with a few other soldiers, by mortar attack. Attempts by the Sri Lankan air force to land helicopters inside the base proved futile, due to the heavy gunfire of the Tigers. The LTTE by then had surrounded the army base and were closing in from all direction. The main thrust was from the south and there were attempts to penetrate the defenses with earth moving vehicles and artillery fire on the outer defense positions. But, the army, which fought valiantly, foiled all of the LTTE's attempts. Eventually, the Rest House camp in the southern sector of the base, fell into the hands of the LTTE. Sustaining heavy losses, the Sri Lankan troops fell back to the rear positions.
"Prabhakaran openly declared that, he had waged the 'Mother of all Battles'. He was very confident of victory. Troops were running short of ammunition, food and medicine. Many airdrops were carried out. Fortunately, about 60 percent of the airdrops fell within the camp premises.
Fierce fighting continued for four days and the LTTE forces, both male and female cadres, continued their relentless onslaught on the southern and northern sectors of Elephant Pass despite mounting causalities. The entrapped Sri Lankan soldiers fought for their lives and were completely surrounded.
[edit] Operation Balavegaya I
To break the siege and reinforce the Elephant Pass camp, along with Brigadier Vijaya Wimalaratne, Maj General Kobbekaduwa launched "Operation Balavegaya". The Government drew up this massive operation plan with a huge force of 10,000 soldiers, which consisted of several battle-hardened and experienced regiments which included battalions from the Sri Lanka Light Infantry, Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment, Gemunu Watch and the Gajaba Regiment.
The amphibious Task Force consisting of two brigades sailed from Trincomalee Naval base. An amphibious operation had to be launched as there was no cleared land route available to ensure speedy reinforcement.
On July 14, 1991, around 5 pm in the evening, the massive rescue operation was launched by General Denzil Kobbekaduwa. With Brigadier Wimalaratne's personal effort, troops landed at Vettilaikerni, located 12 kilometers east of Elephant Pass. There was so much opposition from the Tiger fighters that the first wave of naval craft failed to land. There were causalities, but men ferried by naval craft from Pulmoddai were determined and the air force provided effective air support throughout the operation.
Amidst heavy resistance of the LTTE the troops of the Task Force made a heroic landing at the beach head at Vettilaikerni. Initially, troops from 3rd Sri Lanka Light Infantry, 1st Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment, 3rd & 4th Gajaba Regiments assisted by armor and artillery captured the beachhead and expanded thereafter.
"Many terrorist were killed and large stocks of arms and ammunition captured from the terrorists. There was an intense fighting near the Mulliyan Kovil, northwest of Vettilaikerni. The reason was that the terrorists were determined to recover a stock of gold hidden near the Kovil [Temple]. In fact, the terrorists managed to evict the troops from Kovil area for a short while by counter attacking. They managed to take the gold away." - A Soldier's Version by Major General Sarath Munasinghe - pages 115-116.
Subsequently, thousands of Sri Lankan troops landed on the beaches of Vettilaikerni, breaching the stiff opposition provided by the Tigers. With their superior fire power and manpower, the armed forces were able to secure the beach-head and opened up a new fighting arena, and it was from here that they fought their way to relieve Elephant Pass. The terrain consisted of sand dunes, dotted with thorny scrub and Palmyra palms, an area that did not provide any natural cover against aerial, naval and artillery bombardment. Therefore, the confrontation assumed the character of a conventional warfare, with the combatants facing each other in open battle. It took nearly 18 days for Sri Lankan troops to fight their way on the 12 kilometer stretch to reach the Elephant Pass base.
According to Adele Ann Balasingham, "It took exactly 18 days for the several battalions of Sri Lankan army troops, who landed along the Vadamaradchy eastern coast in a massive rescue operation, to reach the besieged Elephant Pass base. To advance for a short distance of 12 kilometers, the Sinhala regiments, backed by heavy amour and air cover, had to engage in fierce clashes with the LTTE and fight for every inch of the land. With the heavy losses in men and material, the troops finally reached the Elephant Pass base, on the evening of 3rd August 1991. The fighting continued that area until the 9th August, when finally the LTTE made a tactical withdrawal.
[edit] Aftermath
The LTTE suffered heavy causalities 573 Tamil Tigers including 123 women fighters were killed according to Adele Ann Balasingham] in the battle.
According to government official figures, 202 army personnel were killed in the battle to retain Elephant Pass base. There were no official figures of the injuries sustained by the armed forces. According to Major General Sarath Munasinghe, who was at that time the Sri Lankan army spokesman, who wrote A Soldier's Version after his retirement, writes, "On 4 August 1991, I was lucky to personally witness the link up with the ESP camp. It was the biggest ever victory over the LTTE at that time. There was joy and smiles all over. Prabhakaran's much publicized, 'Mother of all Battles,' was defeated. 202 valiant men including some prominent officers had laid their lives. Over thousand terrorists were killed at EPS and during the operation to link up. Many citizens voluntarily sent in, sweets, chutney, cigarettes and many other food items to the soldiers in the battlefield. There were banners and posters praising the soldiers in many parts of the country." - - A Soldier's Version by Major General Sarath Munasinghe, pages 116-117
[edit] References
- ^ a b Asia Times
