The Tigers launched a dawn attack on 10 June on Army’s 55 Brigade headquarters established at Thandikulam, north of Vavuniya three weeks into Operation Jayasikurui, designed to open the 40-mile land route between Vavuniya and Kilinochchi.
LTTE guerrillas blasted the Nochchimoddai bridge and held the area between Thandikulam and Nochchimoddai for 24 hours before withdrawing. Reports say the Tigers removed large quantities of arms and ammunition before blowing up an arms store and putting long-range artillery positions out of action. The military field headquarters was destroyed. The LTTE used its newly acquired artillery guns on Army camps and the airbase in Vavuniya to prevent reinforcements. Thousands of civilians fled the town in panic.
Troops advancing on another front from Nedunkerni in early June northward toward Oddusuddan, a key town in Tiger-controlled Mullaitivu, had brought several villages under control. By the end of June the Army had reached Pandarikulam, within three miles of Oddusuddan. On the Vavuniya-Kilinochchi road, the Army resumed the third phase of the operation from Periyamadu on 23 June, aimed at capturing the strategic town of Puliyankulam, 14 miles north of Vavuniya.
Over 1,000 Tigers launched a second assault on 24 June between Omanthai and Periyamadu, preceded by a Black Tiger suicide attack. The field headquarters re-established at Periyamadu was again destroyed. The arms and vehicles captured by the LTTE in the two attacks, including artillery guns and armoured cars, is estimated at Rs 500 million ($10 million). It is believed that over 600 were killed on both sides and 1,500 wounded.
Reports in late June said that Operation Jayasikurui was called off following the death of over 600 soldiers and the loss of equipment. Army chief Rohan Daluwatte has appointed a team led by a senior officer to investigate the debacles at Thandikulam and Periyamadu.
The guerrilla attacks show the vulnerability of troops overstretched in the vast Vanni region. There are also accusations that senior officers ignored intelligence warnings of impending Tiger assaults.
The LTTE clearly exerted maximum effort to safeguard its heartland as the capture of the Vavuniya-Kilinochchi road would have far-reaching implications for future Tiger strategies and recruitment. The LTTE is expected to launch further attacks on the Army contingent approaching Oddusuddan, just three miles from Mullaitivu town. According to reports, Interpol has informed the Sri Lankan intelligence services that the LTTE is currently negotiating with Kurdish guerrillas to obtain new surface-to-air missiles.
While the war escalates, the civilian population is increasingly vulnerable. Aerial bombing and shells killed at least 24 people and injured over 100. Reports say some civilians ordered to vacate their homes by the LTTE were caught in the crossfire. TULF leader M Sivasithamparam alleges that soldiers looted homes of 400 families fleeing the scene of the Thandikulam attack.
Transport minister Srimani Athulathmudali was dropped in a major Cabinet reshuffle on 9 June. The 30-member Cabinet includes eight new ministers. Reconstruction has been removed from Rehabilitation minister MHM Ashraff’s portfolio.
Sri Lanka’s NGO-led National Peace Council (NPC) welcomed promotions for MPs who back a political solution. Some PA MPs took part in recent peace meetings in Northern Ireland and Philippines and were associated with statements calling for inclusion of the LTTE in the search for negotiated peace. The NPC says the government’s twin-track push to force peace through military and political pressure is essentially one-track in its motivation - the exclusion of the LTTE in the peace process.
Tamil parties expressed their dissatisfaction in a letter to President Chandrika in mid-June over the delay in the peace process. Reports say Tamil moderate party TULF, which has not signed the letter, plans a walk-out during the next Emergency debate in Parliament demanding a ceasefire.
Tamils have also raised protests over government decision to submit new electoral reform proposals to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional Reform while it has still not reached consensus on key issues such as the nature of the Sri Lankan state, unit of devolution and control of land.