JAFENA, Sri Lanka—The government aircraft with its complement of soldiers and supplies made a rapid descent from 6,000 feet over the calm, blue waters off the Palk Strait, the waters separating Sri Lanka from India.
The pilot, a member of the minority Tamil ethnic group that dominates the north around Jaffna, had deliberately steered off course on the 70-minute fight from Colombo, the capital, to avoid rockets and small arms fire from the ground. Having leveled out over the sea, he headed to a combat landing at a spacious airstrip near Jaffna.
The plane taxied to a stop amid an ominous silence, a grim reminder that Tam in the most troubled region on this sun-blessed island off India’s southern coast, the onetime British colony of Ceylon
Overhead hovered a helicopter gunship that had provided air coyer for the plane from the time it began its descent. Some 300 yards away helmeted soldier slay crouched behind a long, winding barbed wire fence with their assault rifles pointed outwards.
Parked at short intervals were armor-plated vehicles with their gun turrets pointed towards the palmary trees and shrub jungles outside. Command the base from which the government directs its battle against guerillas fighting for a separate Tamil state.
From the airport, I flew by helicopter with Brig. Hugh Rupasinghe, commander of northern security forces, to the home of the Jaffna command an Old Dutch fort which sits atop a grass-covered mound surrounded by a moat.
There, we jointed a patrol into the surrounding country side, defended by three British-built, armor-plated troop carriers and by soldiers crawling through the brush on either side providing cover.
The men, clutching Chinese-made T-56 assault rifles, proceeded along the road to Navanthurai, notorious in historic times as a refuge for troublemakers and today a safe haven for Tamil insurgents.
As we passed a children’s playground, a volley of gunfire rang out, sending the troops scrambling for cover behind a wall. “There, they are showing us their presence”, remarked Col. Kulatunga, the Jaffna area commander.
Taking Rupasinghes advice, I remained behind cover, not staying in any one spot for too long, sometimes crawling on the ground. After a while the volleys ceased and I began walking. Then came a series of louder explosions.
I was about to run across the road when an officer sent me in another direction, shouting that the insurgents were firing mortar shells and rocket-propelled grenades.
I ran toward a nearby building, an abandoned market with two gaping holes in its tied roof.
From there, I heard Kulatunga warn his men to watch the windows in a nearby two-story building. Maneuvering for a look, I saw a figure dip his rifle out an upstairs window and open fire on the soldiers lying on the ground below.
Kulatunga unloosed a barrage of fire and the figure appeared to withdraw, lam still unsure whether the man was hit the battle had become much too heavy by this time to check but he did not appear again.
Heurs later, after troops had withdrawn and the battle subsided with neither side able to claim a victory, I was able to discuss the battle with the soldiers in the relative peace of the camp. It was nothing they said, the main rebel strategy seems to be to ambush government patrols whenever they venture out, in an attempt to keep the army in its barracks.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 23, 1986
