Sri Lanka said Wednesday that 100 of its soldiers were killed and a further 800 wounded fighting the Tamil Tigers last month, showing the escalating conflict is bloodier than previously announced.
The casualty figures were given in a statement to the national parliament by Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, and were sharply higher than those released by the island’s hawkish defence ministry.
“The number of security personnel killed last month was 104, while another 822 soldiers and police were wounded,” de Silva said, adding that 80 civilians were killed and 201 wounded in February.
Defence ministry tallies, however, have listed only 63 soldiers lost in action last month, which saw government troops step up an offensive against the rebel-held north after authorities pulled out of a truce with the Tigers.
The health minister did not give an estimate of rebel casualties, although the defence ministry has said 871 Tigers were killed in February.
Since the start of the year, the ministry has claimed security forces have killed at least 1,837 rebels while 107 government soldiers have been slain in the conflict.
No independent confirmation of the figures has been available since journalists and rights workers are barred from frontline areas.
The new figures came as heavy fighting continued in the north.
The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who are battling to carve out a separate ethnic homeland in the north and east of Sri Lanka, said four civilians were killed in an alleged military ambush late Tuesday in Mannar district.
The Tigers regularly accuse the Sri Lankan military of sending “deep penetration units” — or small groups of commandos — into the rebel-held north. Government defence officials refuse to discuss such operations.
The rebels usually follow their allegations of civilian casualties in their mini-state with retaliatory strikes elsewhere in the country.
Meanwhile, the defence ministry said two policemen were wounded in a roadside bomb attack in the north on Wednesday, blaming the Tigers for the blast.
The ministry also claimed another 14 rebels and two soldiers were killed in clashes in the north on Tuesday.
Government releases SLA casualty figures for the month of February
The Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) today released official casualty figures sustained by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in their operations against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). According to GOSL figures, 104 soldiers have been killed in battle and another 822 have been wounded in the month of February. 81 civilians too have perished while another 201 were wounded.
Although exact number of LTTE casualties are not available, DefenceNet learns that the number of LTTE cadres killed in February exceeds 400 (air, ground and sea losses combined). In addition to the deaths, a significant number of cadres have been wounded. According to Military Intelligence, LTTE cadres wounded in these battles are being treated in 9 major hospitals in uncleared areas.
The army is fighting along four major battlefronts in the hope of invading LTTE controlled Wanni heartland; Mannar front (58th division), Vavuniya front (57th division), Weli Oya front (59th division) and national front (Muhamalai/Nagarkovil/Kilali – 53rd and 55th division).
(http://defencenet.blogspot.com)
High casualties for both parties in Wanni operation
It was about a month back the Sri Lanka Army officially started the operation to capture LTTE strongholds in the Wanni heartland. The operation, involving 5 divisions fighting along five major battle fronts, has slowly but surely made inroads to LTTE controlled territory in Mannar, Vavuniya and Weli Oya. The operation is still in its first phase and small attack teams comprising of specialized infantry (SI) have been carrying out most of the limited missions. However the way forward has not been an easy ride for the army.
For the past 16 days in the month of February, 41 SLA soldiers have been killed in battle. Another 190 have been wounded. Majority of the injured are in P3 (Walking wounded) category which means that they will soon rejoin the battle (some already have). Close quarters fighting is still rare and bulk of the SLA casualties have been incurred from land mines and LTTE artillery and mortar attacks. Tigers, who were aware of the impending army invasion into their heartland, had taken the time to mine virtually every inch of the area around their forward defence lines in Mannar, Vavuniya and Weli Oya. In addition to the land mines, LTTE have completely mapped the areas surrounding the FDLs. This is to direct artillery fire exactly to the areas that fall to the army. There have been several instances where the tigers intentionally withdrew from their defence lines, directed heavy artillery barrages to the areas just occupied by SLA and then regrouped and counter attacked the advancing forces. Due to these reasons, the SLA advances are proceeding slowly with extreme caution, in a bid to try and minimize unnecessary casualties.
Although the tigers had the territorial advantage in most fronts, defending their line has not been a joyride for them either. For the month of February, at least 250 LTTE cadres are confirmed to be killed in battle. Names of these cadres have been recorded by army intelligence units. Since this is only the number of confirmed deaths and since these figures do not include casualties caused by Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) air strikes, the actual LTTE casualty figures may be a lot higher.
Meanwhile the LTTE continued to exploit the Madhu no-war zone to their advantage by placing heavy mortars and 122mm artillery near the sacred shrine. Army’s firefinder radars have detected the presence of these heavy weapons inside the church premises a numerous times in the past week but so far the SLA has refrained from counterattacking. MI warns that LTTE’s aim is to provoke the SLA into shelling the church in a bid to defame the armed forces in front of the international community. According to intel reports, LTTE has placed a video team in close proximity of the Madhu shrine to capture and broadcast the events if SLA launched a counterattack targeting tiger artillery in the church premises.
this is the nature of war