 |  | |
Troops inspecting an underwater craft, built by Tamil Tiger rebels, in the village of Udayarkattu. Also found were guns and thermobaric weapons, left behind as the Tigers retreated from the army's attacks.
SRI Lankan troops have stumbled on munitions left behind by the retreating Tamil Tigers that include thermobaric weapons which produce more explosive energy than other conventional explosives, as fighting centres on the impenetrable tropical forests in the north - known as the Wanni.
The well-prepared fortifications, underground settlements and booby-trapped approaches into the jungle may allow the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to hold off the troops for months, people with expert knowledge of the terrain say.
Over the weekend, troops found Tippmann A-5 guns capable of firing chemicals, 120mm cannon and thermobaric weapons that follow a two-stage explosion ending with a blast sucking all the air out of the area.
One of the vital discoveries was the presence of 'undersea craft' still under construction.
The largest underwater craft discovered by troops was about 10m in length and fitted with armour plates, while the other three appeared to have been in the process of being built.
The arms caches underscored the military muscle of the Tiger war machine, depleted though it has been in recent times. It was a warning to advancing troops as well, on what to expect as the LTTE rebels try to draw the troops into the jungles.
'The Tigers fought us in Jaffna as though they were a conventional army, repeating a mistake they made with the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in 1987 and 1988,' said a senior official in Colombo. 'They have realised their disadvantage in the towns and now want to bleed us in the jungles.'
Those jungles are almost impenetrable, except on foot. The foliage can be so dense that even sunlight cannot filter through the canopy of the trees. The army cannot roll its battle tanks into the area. Nor is artillery of much use. Air force jets looking to strafe or bomb the place have no visible targets.
Then again, a warren of tunnels dug by the Tigers criss-cross the Wanni. Some bunkers are located 20m to 25m below solid rock, out of harm's way even from sustained shelling. Tiger cadres themselves are trained to stay rock steady for hours during artillery or infantry assaults, a discipline known only to the most elite commando units.
'The process of jungle bashing involves longer time and more casualties because soldiers are exposed to direct fire. Secondly, the area tends to be booby-trapped,' retired lieutenant-general A.S. Kalkat, who served as overall commander of the IPKF, told The Straits Times.
'But you have to go through this phase. It has to be seen how sustained the effort can be and how many army casualties are politically acceptable for the Sri Lankan government,' he added.
Colombo has said that its troops now control 95 per cent of the areas where the writ of the Tigers ran not too long ago. Still, for all its remarkable battlefield successes, Sri Lanka's army has its work cut out in the Wanni.
It is also pursuing a quarry with a remarkable sense of self-preservation.
When Indian troops stumbled on a bunch of women guerillas in late 1988, they realised that significant Tiger facilities must be nearby. It took them 36 hours to discover the Tiger base. By then, the group's leader Velupillai Prabhakaran had melted away to a camp in Mullaitivu district.
The foliage there is said to be even thicker. Prabhakaran named his camp Base One Four and stayed out of reach of the Indians.
Base One Four's facilities include a firing range, living quarters for hundreds of people and even a field hospital. Yet, it cannot be spotted from the air.
'These are not just hideouts but also actual bases,' said Lt-Gen (Ret) Kalkat. 'They would have stored ammunition and rations for prolonged periods of sustenance. To say they (Sri Lankan troops) have control, they will have to destroy and overrun these bases. You could say you control the Tigers' areas only when you have overrun those bases.'
