SRI LANKA: MILITARY ENGAGEMENTS ON FIVE FRONTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001947

SIPDIS
C O R R E C T E D C O P Y -- ADDED ADDRESSEES/SLUG LINES

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS
SECDEF FOR USDP:ISA-ADMIN
JOINT STAFF FOR J2/J-5-EUR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2016
TAGS: PREL PTER PHUM PREF MOPS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: MILITARY ENGAGEMENTS ON FIVE FRONTS


COLOMBO 00001947 001.3 OF 002


Classified By: CDA James R. Moore for reasons 1.4(b,d).


1. (C) Summary: Military engagements between Government of
Sri Lanka (GSL) security forces and the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE) continued in the north and east on
November 18-19, including a sea battle off the coast of
Mannar, firing at the Jaffna Forward Defense Line, and LTTE
attacks on army camps in Batticaloa. In Vavuniya, the Sri
Lanka Monitoring Mission ruled that security forces shot
eleven students face down, killing five, after an LTTE
claymore exploded near a Sri Lanka Army convoy. A police
officer in Vavuniya has admitted to the killings, Human
Rights Minister Samarasinghe told Charge. Meanwhile, the GSL
sent a supply convoy to civilians in LTTE-controlled Vakarai
November 19, and announced plans to open temporarily the A9
highway to send food aid to Jaffna (septel). End Summary.

VAKARAI
--------------


2. (C) The security environment for about 30,000 civilians in
the eastern coastal area of Vakarai, in a Tamil Tigers-
(LTTE) controlled area of Batticaloa district, deteriorated
over the weekend as the LTTE and Government of Sri Lanka
(GSL) security forces exchanged fire. (Note: Internally
displaced persons (IDPs) from Trincomalee fled to Vakarai in
the midst of military engagement between the LTTE and GSL
military in July.) On November 5, security forces closed the
road to Vakarai at Valachchenai because of fighting in the
area, exacerbating already dire food shortages. Civilian
sources have complained to us that the LTTE has not allowed
civilians to leave Vakarai, while those who do manage to
enter GSL-controlled areas to procure food and supplies are
prevented by the security forces from returning to Vakarai.
We have reports that the 300-600 LTTE cadres in the area are
demoralized, sitting in flooded trenches, and are short of
food. Some have reportedly surrendered.


3. (C) On November 16, LTTE-proxy Tamil National Alliance
(TNA) members of parliament R. Sampanthan and Gajendrakumar
Ponnambalam met with President Rajapaksa to demand access for
humanitarian supplies, stating that no food had reached
civilians in Vakarai since the road was closed. On November
17, the GSL sent ten truckloads of food supplies toward
Vakarai, but security forces claiming that Defense Ministry
authorization had not been received turned the convoy back.
According to media reports, looters then raided some of the
trucks. On November 19, the convoy was permitted to proceed
to Vakarai.

JAFFNA
--------------


4. (C) The bodies of two ethnic Tamils were discovered
November 18 in Jaffna with severe knife wounds. The pro-LTTE
Tamilnet website accused the Sri Lankan Army, but the
military denied any involvement. As periodic fire continued
from both sides of the Jaffna Forward Defense Line (FDL) over
the weekend, the Government of Sri Lanka announced it would
open the A9 highway connecting the Jaffna peninsula to the
south through the LTTE-controlled Vanni for a one-time
shipment of supplies. (Septel will report a November 20
briefing by the GSL Peace Secretariat on the temporary A-9
opening.) The LTTE rejected the plan November 20, insisting
the road must be permanently opened.

BATTICALOA
--------------


5. (C) Sri Lanka Military spokesman Brigadier Prasad
Samarasinghe told pol FSN that the LTTE attacked Sri Lanka
Army (SLA) camps at Kadjuwatte, Vavunathivu and Mankerni in
the Batticaloa district November 19 with artillery and mortar
fire, injuring two soldiers. SLA troops returned fire.

VAVUNIYA
--------------


6. (C) Brigadier Samarasinghe told pol FSN that an LTTE
claymore attack on a military supply truck November 18 killed
four soldiers, and that several civilians were killed in the

COLOMBO 00001947 002.2 OF 002


ensuing crossfire. On November 20, Minister of Disaster
Management and Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe told Charge
that a Vavuniya policeman had come forward to accept
responsibility for the killing of the students. He said he
was near the army checkpoint when the claymore went off and,
panicking, fired on the students, killing five. Sri Lanka
Monitoring Mission spokesperson Helen Olafsdottir told
Emboff, however, that monitors who arrived at the scene
within 10 minutes of the incident found that "soldiers fired
indiscriminately at a group of students who had thrown
themselves on the ground seeking safety" after the claymore
exploded near by. Olafsdottir added that witnesses saw
soldiers enter the agricultural school premises and open fire
at close range on the students, who were lying face down.
Five were killed and another 10 injured.

MANNAR
--------------


7. (C) The LTTE "Sea Tigers" and the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN)
clashed off the north-west coast of Mannar November 18.
Latest reports indicate that the SLN detected a Sea Tiger
resupply effort, setting off the exchange. Military
spokesman Brig. Samarasinghe confirmed that one sailor was
killed and three were injured, and claimed that the SLN
killed 15 LTTE cadres. He said the SLN sunk three Sea Tiger
boats while the Sri Lanka AIR FORCE (SLAF) sunk one. The
LTTE claimed to have sunk two naval boats, killing ten
sailors. (Note: Both sides frequently inflate casualty
numbers.)


8. (C) COMMENT: While the weekend's events reflect an
undiminished level of violence since the last round in of
talks in Geneva at the end of October, they do not amount to
the major LTTE strike that many observers have anticipated
before LTTE supremo Prabhakaran's annual November 27 "Heroes'
Day" speech.
BLAKE