COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan military recently received a morale-shattering blow when a landmine blast killed three top commanders with a key role in the war against Tamil militants and seven others travelling with them.
The nine officers and a soldier were travelling in a vehicle which blew up at Arrival junction on Kayts island off Jaffna peninsula. Among the victims were Major General Denzil Kobberkaduwa, who headed the vital northern command of the army, Cdr. C. Mohan Jayamaha, the northern area commander of the navy, and Brigadier Wijaya Wimalaratne, commander of security forces in Jaffna area. Three of the 10 dead were from the navy. Army’s victims also included three lieutenant colonels and a major.
Major General Kobbckaduwa is the highest ranking army officer to be killed in the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The officer was expected to take over as the chief of staff, the number two position in Sri Lankan army, in January next year, Both he and Brigadier Wimalaratne were high profile officers, earning kudos for their offensives against the Tamil Tigers. The brigadier had led the task force last year which broke the Elephant Pass siege by the LTTE.
The recent setback for the government is comparable to the March 1991 assassination of the minister of state for defence, Ranjan Wijeratne. Unlike the Wiljeratne assassination, the death of top commanders is also bound to throw planned offensives in Jaffna out of gear.
There was talk that the security forces planned major operations against the LTTE during the remaining tenure as northern area commander of Major General Kobbekaduwa. The concentration of top officers in Kayts has also led to speculation that an operation of some kind was in the offing.
Major General Kobbekaduwa was evacuated to Colombo with a critical head injury. Doctors pulled him out of cardiac arrest, but he succumbed to his injuries a few hours later. Brigadier Wimalaratne was reportedly at the wheel of the vehicle blown apart in the blast.
Kayts is the largest among a string of islands west of Jaffna peninsula which came under army control about a year ago. A nominal “civil administration” was established on the islands,
But the military dominates the scene, with hardly any civilians to govern, Most of the Tamil population, particularly on Kayts island, had fled when the armed forces took the island.
The islets are perceived as important staging posts for a major attack on Jaffna town, Mandaitivu is land, for example, is connected to the town by a causeway less than two km long.
According to one account, the officers were on a reconnaissance tip by road to visit the forward defence of the island,
Another report, however, said they had switched from separate jeeps into a single vehicle for the last stretch of travel to a helipad,
Article extracted from this publication >> Aug 21, 1992
