SRI LANKA: INTENSIFIED FIGHTING LEADS TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000545 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS MCC FOR S GROFF, D NASSIRY, E BURKE AND F REID E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/09/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: INTENSIFIED FIGHTING LEADS TO SPECULATION OF RENEWED NEGOTIATIONS REF: A. COLOMBO 521 ¶B. COLOMBO 496 Classified By: Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Jr., for reasons 1.4(b,d). ¶1. (SBU) Summary. Fighting between the Sri Lankan military and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) intensified over the weekend. An April 8 claymore mine attack 12 kilometers northwest of Jaffna city killed at least one SLA soldier and wounded six others. A bus bomb the morning of April 7 killed one Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldier and seven Tamil civilians, and wounded 24. Also on April 7, the SLA and LTTE exchanged mortars at Iruppakulam in the north, with reports of three LTTE cadres and one SLA soldier killed in the skirmish. On April 6, the Sri Lanka Navy engaged in a battle with the Sea Tigers, reportedly sinking one LTTE boat and killing two LTTE cadres. LTTE spokesman Rasiah Illanthirayan reported that the SLA has taken control of the A-5 road between Chenkalady and Maha Oya, south of Thopipigala, approximately 4 kilometers east of "the last LTTE controlled village" in the eastern province. Amid the fighting, one paper reported the LTTE told the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) it is willing to return to negotiations, but an SLMM source called the reported an "exaggerated bit of non-news." End Summary. CONTINUED MILITARY SKIRMISHES LEAD TO CASUALTIES -------------- --- ¶2. (SBU) Throughout the weekend, the media reported continued SLA/LTTE military engagements in the North. On April 6, the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) targeted five LTTE small arms boats suspected of smuggling weapons to the Tigers. The SLN engaged the LTTE, sinking one boat and killing two LTTE cadres, while one Sri Lankan sailor was injured by the LTTE's return fire. The remaining four LTTE boats escaped unharmed. ¶3. (SBU) Late on the morning of April 7, the SLA and LTTE exchanged mortars at Iruppakulam, an LTTE-controlled area in the North between Vavuniya and Omanthai. Military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said three LTTE cadre and one SLA soldier were killed in the fighting. BUS BLAST REDUX: GSL AND LTTE REACT SIMILARLY -------------- ¶4. (SBU) On April 7 at 7:30 am local time, a claymore mine exploded on a Ceylon Transport Board bus traveling the Mannar-Vavuniya road in the north, approximately 25 kilometers west of Vavuniya city. Eight people, including one SLA soldier traveling in plain clothes on home leave, were killed, and 24 civilians were wounded. Echoing the aftermath of the April 1 bus bombing in Ampara (ref A),the GSL and LTTE each accused the other of targeting civilians, with both sides disavowing responsibility for the attack. On Sunday, a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, Selvam Adaikalanathan of the Vanni (northern) district, accused SLA Deep Penetration Forces of setting the April 7 bus blast in retaliation against Tamil civilians for the April 1 incident. He did not, however, admit that the LTTE was responsible for the Ampara bus bombing. TIGERS ADMIT FACING TROUBLE IN THE EAST -------------- ¶5. (SBU) On April 8, LTTE cadres launched a claymore mine at an SLA checkpoint 12 kilometers northwest of Jaffna city, killing one soldier and wounding six others. At the same time, the SLA continued to use military action to limit the LTTE's influence in the East. LTTE military spokesman Rasiah Illanthiryan stated that the SLA has taken control of the A-5 COLOMBO 00000545 002 OF 002 road between Chenkalady and Maha Oya, south of Thopipigala. Illanthirayan said that the SLA's control of the A-5 threatened "the last LTTE controlled village" in the eastern province. (Note: Chenkalady was the site of an LTTE attack on March 27 when a Tiger cadre detonated a bomb a on tractor trailer (ref B). Since that time, the SLA has worked to clear any remaining LTTE influence from the area around Chenkalady, with the LTTE apparently conceding the SLA's success. End Note.) SLMM SAYS NO CHANGE TO STATUS QUO ON NEGOTIATIONS -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) On April 8, the Daily Mirror quoted unnamed SLMM sources reporting that the LTTE is ready to resume negotiations with the government as long as the talks focus on the defunct Ceasefire Agreement (CFA),and the paper's Associate Editor stood by the story when emboff called to confirm on April 9. However, SLMM Press and Information Officer Thorifnnur Omarsson told poloff that the Daily Mirror's report was an exaggeration of his statement that the LTTE has repeatedly indicated its willingness to return to negotiations if the A-9 road is reopened. Omarsson described the Daily Mirror's report as a bit of "non-news," stating that there has been no change to the status quo. ¶7. (C) COMMENT: The LTTE has repeatedly warned that the SLA would not have the same success in the North that it had in the East. As the fighting intensifies, it appears that the LTTE is determined to go on the offensive in an effort to fulfill this prediction. The Tigers, familiar with a power imbalance favoring the government in terms of traditional warfare, have long relied on tactics such as setting claymore mines and ambush attacks. The LTTE concession of defeat in the East must also be viewed with a measure of skepticism. Although the Tigers may have lost some permanent footholds in the East, the LTTE remains a mobile guerrilla force capable of disrupting efforts to resettle territories they previously held and launching terrorist attacks anywhere in the country. BLAKE