SRI LANKA: ARMY CAPTURES MULLAITIVU; BOTH SIDES

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 000086 DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2019 TAGS: MOPS PHUM PREF CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: ARMY CAPTURES MULLAITIVU; BOTH SIDES VIOLATE GSL-DECLARED NO-FIRE ZONE REF: A. COLOMBO 079 ¶B. COLOMBO 065 ¶C. COLOMBO 044 ¶D. COLOMBO 033 Classified By: Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Jr., for reasons 1.4(b,d). ¶1. (SBU) Army Commander Sarath Fonseka announced in a live television broadcast on January 25 that the military had captured Mullaitivu - the last major town held by the LTTE. In a campaign appearance for the February 14 Central Province council elections, President Mahinda Rajapaksa stated that the day in which Northern Tamils would be liberated from terrorism was not far off. Mullaitivu had been under LTTE control since 1996. The Army now stands on the verge of taking Puthukudiyiruppu (PTK),an area in which much of the Vanni's displaced civilian population had congregated (ref B). Pro-LTTE website Tamilnet indicated that Mullaitivu had been vacated by civilians prior to its fall. There have been no reports that government forces captured large stocks of heavy weapons there. As they have done previously, the Tigers most likely withdrew important military assets prior to abandoning the town. ¶2. (C) A significant proportion of the Vanni's more than 250,000 population is now located in the 35 square kilometer "safe" area the government declared as a no fire zone on January 21 (ref A). However, UN Resident Representative Neil Buhne reported to Ambassador on January 25 that the GSL had violated its commitment not to fire into the zone. According to Buhne (as well as military sources),the LTTE is firing on government positions from the area and the Army is returning fire. The GSL had also asked the UN to relocate its remaining personnel in the Vanni to this "safe zone." The UN complied, being careful to notify the military authorities of its exact GPS coordinates. We are in indirect contact with one of the two UN expatriate workers still in the Vanni. He reported shelling by the SLA within the no-fire zone, including a significant explosion 8 meters from the UN bunker which killed and injured scores of civilians, and also injured a UN staff member. ¶3. (SBU) On January 25, Kalaignar TV, a popular TV station in Tamil Nadu owned by Chief Minister Karunanidhi, claimed that 1,600 SLA soldiers had been killed in recent action in the Vanni. Some Tamil sources alleged that over 1,000 Sri Lankan Army soldiers died when LTTE forces blew up a reservoir dam, flooding sections of the A-35 Paranthan - Mullaitivu road. Embassy has not been able to verify this probably exaggerated casualty count, nor do we know whether Tamil civilians also perished. DAO will report septel on the recent fighting. ¶4. (SBU) COMMENT: Although the Army has a generally good track record of taking care to minimize civilian casualties during its advances, the military is now reportedly under pressure to take control of the remaining LTTE-held territory prior to Sri Lankan national day celebrations on February 4, allowing the President to declare final victory against the LTTE. Ambassador will use the occasion of a ceremonial handover of food assistance to the World Food Programme to urge the LTTE to allow the IDPs freedom of movement, and urge both sides to exercise maximum restraint in use of shelling in areas populated by civilians. Blake