Fallen Heroes

The Elephant Pass operation was a combination of an offensive action against the Elephant Pass base, and a defensive action against the reinforcements at Vettilaikerni. Similarly, during Unceasing Waves an offensive action was carried out on the Mullaitivu base, and a defensive action was carried out in Silvaturai, to resist air dropped relief troops. However, in the Elephant Pass battle, the Tigers were not able to succeed on both fronts.

Operation Unceasing Waves was significant for four reasons:

1. It was successful in killing a large number of enemy troops.
2. A substantial quantity of arms and ammunition was captured.
3. The relief forces were repulsed successfully.
4. A vast amount of territory was liberated.

In 1954, French troops suffered similar defeat at Dien-Bien-Phu (Vietnam). However, the siege of the base lasted for 56 days, in which period, 8000 French troops were killed as well as a much larger number of Vietnamese fighters.

A significant aspect of 'Operation Unceasing Waves' is that a thousand enemy soldiers were killed for the loss of far fewer (Tamil) fighters, in an assault that was completed in under 3 days. This is undoubtedly an extraordinary military event. Twice as many of the enemy were killed in Unceasing Waves as in Operation Frog (the assault on Elephant Pass).

The [Mullaitivu] attack would have come as a surprise to the Sinhala people who had believed the government's propaganda that the Tigers had been de-clawed and de-fanged in [the Sri Lankan] 'Operation Rivirasa'. A nagging fear of the Sinhala armed forces now, is that their high command is unable to establish with certainty how this disaster came about. This is the psychological aspect of the victory. In addition, the battle turned into a fiasco when Sri Lankan commandos needed to be sent in to rescue the relief force itself.

The timing of this operation was crucial, as it came at a time when the people of the island and abroad were convinced of [Deputy Defense Minister] Ratwatte's mathematical analysis which stated that over 70% of the Tigers' capability had been destroyed [in Jaffna] and that the remainder could be destroyed in the Vanni.

It was also a time when observers all over the world were curious to see if the Tiger's final chapter was about to be written. The Tamil people were also disheartened. However, much to the world's surprise, Leader Velupillai Pirabakaran engineered a huge victory for the Tamil nation, by completely wiping out the Mullaitivu base.

As well as killing the 1200 troops, the LTTE also captured artillery, Buffel armored vehicles, 120mm mortars and a large quantity of other arms and ammunition. They also destroyed a heavily armed naval vessel. These events rocked the institutions of Sinhala hegemony.

When the events at Mullaitivu were confirmed, observers the world over were surprised. Analysts were unable to ascertain how this military success could have come about. Comparisons were drawn from history in attempts to explain it.

One foreign journalist compared this attack to the Vietnamese 'Tet' offensive in 1968, when Vietnamese fighters attacked the American forces. During the American involvement in Vietnam, the Viet Cong movement launched a major onslaught against the American forces simultaneously across the towns of South Vietnam on the same day.

The timing of this operation was important as it came at a time when the American leadership claimed that they had destroyed the Viet Cong movement. The American people had also believed this. When the Viet Cong launched this conventional attack, it politically embarrassed the American government.

Just like the Tet offensive, Operation Unceasing Waves was carried out at a time when the Sinhala government had declared the Tigers' chapter as closed.

The Tet offensive was led by a famous Vietnamese General, Giap and the Unceasing Waves operation was led by Pirabakaran. Though the two operations had similar psychological and political aspects, they had different military implications.

Although the Tet offensive stretched the American forces, they managed to repulse the onslaught. Tet was not a military success for the Viet Cong.

However, Operation Unceasing Waves brought significant psychological, political and military gains for the Liberation Tigers. Unlike the [Viet Cong in the] Tet offensive, the Tigers attained their target. They completely wiped out the Sinhalese forces stationed in the base, captured the entire armoury and freed the territory from enemy occupation.

The foreign analyst who compared both attacks was quite correct in terms of the external circumstances surrounding them.

The attack was also compared to the Pearl Harbour attack in 1941. The Japanese achieved complete surprise when attacking the heavily fortified naval base, a landmark event in military history. Operation Unceasing Waves had military features similar to the Pearl Harbour attack in terms of losses suffered by the enemy and the sudden nature of the attack.

It should be noted that the (Liberation) movement had faced setbacks in 1995, and hence it had almost stalled.

Whenever the [Tamil] war engine takes a blow, Leader Pirabakaran takes personal responsibility for revitalising the movement. He did so this time through Operation Unceasing Waves. After instructing the fighters to withdraw from Vadamaratchi and Thenmaratchi, [on the Jaffna peninsula] he worked hard to mend the military imbalance.

He decided to carry out this huge attack in the Vanni and to wipe out the Mullaitivu base in order to swing the balance back to the Tamils. He also knew the consequences of failure in this battle: it could have paralysed the [Liberation] struggle.

So, ultimately, he undertook the duty of ensuring victory in the battle by taking direct responsibility for the fighters' training, espionage, casualty treatment,troop movements and supply lines.

Maintaining the secrecy of the battle plans was paramount, as was strict adherence to the plan during its implementation, hence Pirabakaran kept firm control of the operation. The fierce determination shown by our fighters in these resulted in victory.

Victory in Unceasing Waves brought new hope to the Tamil people who had been disheartened. The victory also increased the Tamil army's military power by the acquisition of a large quantity of sophisticated weaponry.

For the first time in the Tamils' struggle for independence, medium range (15km) artillery came into the Tigers' possession. In addition to these, they captured RCL and 120mm mortar launchers and ammunition. These weapons will help the Tigers in their efforts to transform themselves into a conventional army. Pirabakaran can be expected to achieve much more with these weapons.

Apart from the military aspect of capturing weapons and killing a larger number of enemy troops, the operation will assume prime importance in the overall war between the Sinhala and Tamil armies.

The other important aspect of this operation was defeating the Sinhala government's attempts to reinforce [the garrison] with the full might of its combined forces. This was a milestone in the Tamil liberation struggle and also an indication of the growth of the struggle.

Sending reinforcements can be compared to giving life blood to a human body. They boost the morale of troops marooned in a besieged camp. The relief commandos landed in Silvaturai, backed by the mighty power of the Navy and Air Force, but were unable to advance to the target [amid Tiger resistance]. This clearly demonstrates the Tigers' ability to fight back a conventional army. This development would have caused concern to the Sinhala military authorities.

In general, rescue operations can be classified into two categories: a commando style operation and a conventional one.

A commando style operation can be carried out by sea or by air. This is normally a surprise attack on the enemy. It will be carried out in secret with an approach based on opportunism and an acceptance of risk. A smaller number of troops will be involved in this kind of attack and it will normally be used in situations like attacking a specific military installation or killing an important person or destroying an enemy target. The military command doesn't need to worry much as even if the operation fails, it will lose only a few troops.

The conventional style rescue operation is quite the opposite. A large number of troops will be deployed with the full support of the navy and air force. This kind of operation is normally carried out when a military camp is in danger or to capture territory. Failure in this kind of operation will have severe implications. A large number of troops will be lost and the imbalance in the military power between the two forces will also be revealed.

The rescue operation carried out in Silvaturai was more or less a conventional style operation and no one can deny the fact that it failed. This will cast doubt on the viability of other military installations in the North where the government believes safety is assured with the support of the Navy.

Although the Sinhala forces managed to land rescue forces despite the heavy resistance from the Tigers, they couldn't inch forward towards the besieged camp, through the Tiger positions. The first batch of reinforcement troops were air lifted on the very first day of the operation (18th June 1996) to a location which is only 2km away from the camp perimeter. The troops were not regular forces, but highly trained special forces. The conventional warfare of the Tigers prevented these troops moving forward, despite the support of the Navy and Air Force.

The Tigers achieved this success which they had failed to in Vettilaikerni, five years earlier. This historical event was a clear indication of the growth of Tigers' capability in conventional warfare.

One cannot conclude that Sinhala army will not attempt this kind of rescue operation in the future. However, the Sinhala army high command cannot deny that future operations like this are going to be a gamble.

Courtesy: Viduthalai Puligal