SLAF pounds on 130mm artillary piece of LTTE

Tigers who had been using 122mm and 152mm artillery for a while had thought of taking out a 130mm piece....

SF ambush kills 17 infiltrators

Yesterday(28th march) an 8 man team of Special Forces 3 successfully ambushed a group of tiger infiltrators in the Thevipuram area.This was a part of the group of tigers who had infiltrated into the government controlled area during the LTTE counter operation early March.During this operation almost half the LTTE attackers got wiped out by SLA commandos while most of others retreated with their dead and wounded.A few tigers managed to infiltrate through the FDL of the 58th division.Then teams of Special Forces troops were deployed in the area to take out these cadres.

Troops of both SF3 and 4 have confronted with these cadres and have caused damaged to them.Yesterdays ambush was a lot successful as troops were able to take a RPG operator who had been a headache for a while.They have also recovered bodies of all the dead cadres including this RPG operator's body.SF soldiers have suffered 3 casualties including 1 KIA.

Now the remaining LTTE units are operating in an area of approximately 3 square kms outside the CSZ.The forward advance of troops has been slowed due to the counter attacks of LTTE and also the inability to use heavy fire power due to the civilian factor.But the army has been able to hold on to its lines and today they have advanced around 350m into LTTE held territory towards the CSZ.So steady progress like this means the remaining ares of tigers will be captured slowly inflicting heavy damage to the terrorists.

We recommend our readers to read the article of The Long Ranger on MOUT to have a fair idea about the current ground situation.

Canada shows their stripes to the world

The protest held in Canada last week was conducted by a few LTTE sympathizers in Toronto.The protestants accused the government of Sri Lanka for carrying out what they called "genocide" against the tamils in the CSZ(Civilian Safety Zone) in the North Eastern coastal belt of Sri Lanka.Though these terrorist supporters asked the Canadian government and the UNO to force a ceasefire in Sri lanka to stop the plight of the tamils what they really wanted was displayed in the banners some held.


It clearly shows the mentality of the Tamil diaspora.They do not care about the lives of the innocent civilians held hostage by the terrorists in the No Fire Zone.What they want is a separate homeland for the Tamils who are a mere 13% of the country's population.The separatism and the inability to live among people of other communities is clearly mirrored by this demonstration.

The other sad fact brought out by this protest is the reaction of the Canadian government towards the activities of terrorists.The government which had banned the LTTE organization as a terrorist movement not only allowed the protestants to carry out the protest but facilitated it by closing roads and so on.We are very disappointed by this act of the government of Canada.

Furthermore these kinds of protests held around the world should be taken by the government of Sri Lanka as a push to accelerate the military operation to capture the remaining territory held by the tigers and also to continue its Zero Civilian Casualty(ZCC) policy along with the humanitarian acts by the SLA.Our view is that prolonging the war would only worsen the situation.

Please drop a comment with your view on this.Thank You.-CeylonDefence

Military Organization

As most of our readers do not have a proper idea of the organization of the military including the heirachy and the formation of the army divisions we at CeylonDefence thought of enlightening you on the subject.

Executive Control & administration of military organizations

In a democratic country the head of the military oraganization is the commander-in-chief,the president of the counry(ex-Sri Lanka,USA).The defence minister is the second in command.In our case the president himself is the minister of defence.Currently one of the most famous men in Sri lanka ,the defence secretary is subordinated to the defence minster.The Ministry of Defence of which the defence secretary is the head is the highest level of military headquarters charged with formulating, executing defence policy and procurements for the Armed Forces.

Operational and defence policy decisions are taken by the National Defence Council.The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) is the head of the Joint Operations Headquarters (JOH) of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and is a member of the National Security Council headed by the president.Although the commanders of the three fold forces come under the The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDs),they have much autonomy in military operations.Under these commanders comes the respective officers of the tri armed forces.Here we are concentrating only on the structure of the Sri Lanka Army(SLA).

Sri Lanka Army

The professional head of the Sri Lanka Army is the Commander of the Army, currently Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka.He is assisted by the Chief of Staff of the Army, Major General Nissanka Wijesinghe.The Army Headquarters, situated in Colombo is the main administrative and the operational headquarters of the Sri Lanka Army. It is divided into a number of branches of which we are not going to discuss here. The Headquarters of field formations each have its own staff. For instance a divisional headquarters is divided into a GS branch as an AQ branch, each headed by a Colonel and is responsible for operations & training and administration & logistics respectively. Similarly, a Brigade Major and Major AQ is responsible for operations and administration in a brigade. Security Forces Headquarters - Jaffna (SFHQ-J), Security Forces Headquarters - Wanni (SFHQ-W), Security Forces Headquarters - East (SFHQ-E) are such divisional headquarters

 

Sri Lanka Army has largely retained the British-style regimental system that it inherited upon independence. The individual regiments (such as the Sri Lanka Light Infantry and the Sinha Regiment) operate independently and recruit their own members. Officers tend to remain in a single battalion throughout their careers. The infantry battalion, the basic unit of organization in field operations, includes five companies of four platoons each. Typical platoon have three squads (sections) of ten personnel each. In addition to the basic infantry forces, a commando regiment was also established in 1986. Support for the infantry is provided by an armoured regiment, five reconnaissance regiments, three mechanized infantry regiments, five field artillery regiments, a rocket artillery regiment, three commando regiments , three special forces regiments, six field engineering regiments, five signals battalions, a medical corps, and a variety of logistics units.

Regiments & Corps

    * Sri Lanka Armoured Corps (SLAC)

    * Sri Lanka Artillery (SLA)

    * Sri Lanka Engineers (SLE)

    * Sri Lanka Signals Corps (SLSC)

    * Sri Lanka Light Infantry (SLLI)

    * Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment (SLSR)

    * Gemunu Watch (GW)

    * Gajaba Regiment (GR)

    * Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment (VIR)

    * Mechanized Infantry Regiment

    * President's Guard]

    * Commando Regiment (CR)

    * Special Forces Regiment (SF)

    * Military Intelligence Corps

    * Engineer Services Regiment

    * Sri Lanka Army Service Corps

    * Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps

    * Sri Lanka Army Ordnance Corps

    * Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers

    * Sri Lanka Corps of Military Police

    * Sri Lanka Army General Service Corps

    * Sri Lanka Army Women's Corps

    * Sri Lanka Rifle Corps

    * Sri Lanka Army Pioneer Corps

    * Sri Lanka National Guard

The various divisions of the Sri Lanka Army have been the topic of discussion in sri Lanka lately.The success of the military operation and also the promotion given by various media has made these divisions and their GOCs(General Officer Commanding)s popular.Although the active offensive divisions and Task Forces are known to most of the people,they do not have much knowledge of some offensive divisions as well as the defencesive divions which are playing a vital role in the current operations.So next we will see the divisions and their sub formations.Before moving on to it refer to the table below to get a proper understanding of the army hierarchy.

Following is the formation of a modern army.this is the structure common to most armies.But there may be few differences in the structure in countries.Even in Sri Lanka the structure is not exactly similar to this.There are differences in numbers as well as the order.

APP-6A Symbol	Name	Strength	Constituent units	Commander or leader
XXXXXX	region, theater, or front	1,000,000+	4+ army groups	general, army general, or field marshal
XXXXX	army group	250,000+	2+ armies	general, army general, or field marshal
XXXX	army	60,000–100,000+	2–4 corps	general, army general, or colonel general
XXX	corps	30,000–80,000	2+ divisions	lieutenant general
XX	division	10,000–20,000	2–4 brigades or regiments	major general
X	brigade	2000–5000	2+ regiments, 3–6 battalions or Commonwealth regiments	brigadier general, brigadier or colonel
III	regiment or group	2000–3000	2+ battalions or U.S. Cavalry squadrons	colonel
II	infantry battalion, U.S. Cavalry squadron, or Commonwealth armoured regiment	300–1000	2–6 companies, batteries, U.S. Cavalry troops, or Commonwealth squadrons	lieutenant colonel
I	infantry company, artillery battery, U.S. Cavalry troop, or Commonwealth armour or combat engineering squadron	70–250	2–8 platoons or Commonwealth troops	chief warrant officer and captain or major
•••	platoon or Commonwealth troop	25–60	2+ squads, sections, or vehicles	warrant officer and first or second lieutenant
••	section or patrol	8–12	2+ fireteams	corporal to staff sergeant
•	squad or crew	8–16	2+ fireteams or 1+ cell	corporal to staff sergeant
Ø	fireteam	4–5	n/a	lance corporal to sergeant
Ø	fire and manoeuvre team	2	n/a	any/private first class

source -Wikipedia

Operational Command

Various formations are also raised from time to time to suit various security requirements in the country. The Army at present has deployed 12 Divisions, 8 task forces and several independent brigades. Each division is commanded by a General Officer Commanding in the rank of Major General(or Brigadier). Except for the 11 Division based at the Panagoda Cantonment which is responsible for the maintenance of capability for the defence of the capital, all other divisions are deployed for operations in the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka, coming under three operational commands, which are the Security Forces Headquarters Jaffna (SFHQ-J), Wanni (SFHQ-W) & East (SFHQ-E). Each division is further divided into brigades. Each brigade is commanded by an officer in the rank of Brigadier and has a number of Infantry battalions, support arms (Artillery, Engineers and Signals) and support services (Service Corps, Engineering Services, Ordnance Corps, Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) under assigned to it. In other parts of the country, there are Area and Sub-Area Headquarters. Armour, Artillery, Engineers and Signals Units are grouped under Brigade Headquarters of their own arm; Armored Brigade, Artillery Brigade and so on.

Combat formations

Security Forces Headquarters - Jaffna (SFHQ-J)

    * 51 Division, based in Jaffna

    * 52 Division, based in the Jaffna Peninsula

    * 53 Division, based in Elephant Pass, Jaffna Peninsula[29]

          o Mechanized Infantry Brigade

          o Air Mobile Brigade

    * 55 Division, in Elephant Pass, Jaffna Peninsula

    * Armored Brigade

Security Forces Headquarters - Wanni (SFHQ-W) [30]

    * 56 Division, operating in the Vavuniya District

    * 57 Division, operating in the Mullativu District

          o 57-1 Brigade

          o 57-2 Brigade

          o 57-3 Brigade

          o 57-4 Brigade

    * 58 Division, operating in Elephant Pass (formally refereed to as the Task Force 1)

          o 58-1 Brigade

          o 58-2 Brigade

          o 58-3 Brigade

          o Commando 2 Brigade

    * 59 Division, operating in Mullaittivu District

          o 59-1 Brigade

          o 59-2 Brigade

          o 59-3 Brigade

    * 61 Division, operating in the Vavuniya District

    * Task Force 2, operating in the Mullattivu District

    * Task Force 3, operating in the Mullattivu District

    * Task Force 4, operating in the Mullattivu District

    * Task Force 5,Mannar District

    * Task Force 6,Pooneryn(Killinochchi District)

    * Task Force 7,EPS(Jaffna District)

    * Task Force 8,PTK(Mullativu DIstrict)

       

    

Security Forces Headquarters - East (SFHQ-E)

    * 21 Division, based in Trincomalee District

    * 22 Division, based in Trincomalee

    * 23 Division, based in Poonani, Batticaloa District

Independent

    * 11 Division, based at the Panagoda Cantonment, Western Province

Disbanded

    * 54 Division, based at Elephant Pass

    * 2 Division

    * 3 Division

sources-Ministry of Defence,Sri Lanka Army,Wikipedia

Await an update on the latest news from the battlefront

Tigers making their last stand

Fighting escalated between the Sri Lanka Army(SLA) and the LTTE terrorists on last Wednesday(4th) when the Tigers launched a pre-dawn offensive targeting the 58th and the 55th divisions of SLA.Tigers taking cover from the, dark advanced among a group of about 700 civilians.Cadres from the so called elite units of LTTE,Imran Pandya,Charles Anthony and Radha regiments participated in this cowardly attack.Although some claim that SLA was informed by MI(Military Intelligence) about this attack,we can confirm that they were not.But the valiant troops of the 58th division faced this attack and completely repulsed it.The infantry troop who were at the FDL identified the terrorists and prepared for battle.Although the troops withdrew from the FDL,later with the support of commandos of the Commando 2 regiment(attached to 58 division) boxed the tigers and began to hunt them down.On Thursday they had killed more than 120 terrorists and found 46 bodies the same day.The tigers had withdrawn with their wounded and bodies the day before, after the humiliating defeat.It was revealed later that these cadres have come to push back the troops further towards Chalai area and occupy the southern part of Chalai.The fact that they had brought food and other supplies for over 1 and half months show that the tigers have had big plans.But the timely action taken by the SLA commanders and the unmatchable skill of the commandos ,SLA was able to prevent a disaster.

At present the troops of the 58th division operating in the ampalwanpokkanei general area have laid siege on the CSZ.Reports indicate that infantry troops are stationed some 300m outside the safe zone while the forward elements are engaging the enemy in small attacks to enable civilians to enter government held zones.

In the Puthukuduirippu(PTK) front the tigers are desperately offering stiff resistance to the troops which is at the moment the only option left for them other than jumping in to the sea and surrendering to the SLA.Fierce fighting is raging in the eastern and the north eastern borders of PTK.Troops engaged in neutralizing the enemy will be able to breakthrough soon as tigers are loosing their cadre in high numbers on an hourly basis.Casualties on SLA is also at a high level but it is extremely low compared to the LTTE casualties.However the rumour that the war will be over in 72(or 48)hrs is a completely false claim by the SLA to stir the LTTE and their sympathizers.But we at CeylonDefence can confirm that the conventional war will be over in less than 3 weeks.

හමුදව පුතුකුදුඉරිප්පු මංසන්දිය අත්පත් කර ගනී

ශ්‍රි ලංකා යුද හමුදාවේ 58 හා 53 වන සෙනාංක වල රණවිරුවෝ පසුගියදා රත්‍රියේ සිට පැවති දරුණු සටන් වලින් අනතුරුව අද උදේ පුතුකුඩුරිප්පු මංසන්දිය අල්ලා ගැනීමට සමත් වූහ.ඒ 35 මාර්ගයට දකුනින් පැමිණි 53 වන සේනාංකය හා උතුරින් පැමිනි 58 වන සේනාංකය පුතුකුඩිරිප්පු මංසන්දියෙදී මුනගැසෙමින් මෙම විජයග්‍රහනය වාර්තා කලහ.මෙම ජයග්‍රහනයත් සමග කොටි ත්‍රස්තවාදින් සතුව පැවති අවසන් බලකොටුවත් ඔවුන්ට අහිමි විය.මෙම සති කිහිපය ඇතුලත කොටි නායකයින් මෙන්ම ඔවුන්ගේ බර අවි විශාල තොගයක්ද අල්ලා ගනිමට හමුදාවට හැකි වෙනු ඇත.

තවද අපට ලැබී අති තොරතුරු වලට අනුව හමුදවේ 58 සෙනාංකය ඉරන්පලේ ප්‍රදේශයට ඇතුල් වී ඇත.ලැබූ සැනින් වැඩි විස්තර ඔබ වෙත ගෙන ඒමට අපි බැඳි සිටිමු.