The Sri Lanka Army maintained a military camp at the Vavunathivu junction to protect the access road to the town of Batticaloa, located on the island of Puliyantivu were the old Batticaloa fort, the Kachcheri, and the Brigade Headquarters of the 3rd Brigade. In early 1997, the LTTE increased its presence around Batticaloa and in the Eastern Province. In January the Mavadivembu camp between Chenkaladi and Valaichenai was attacked and overrun. Few days prior the LTTE began detaining vehicles going to Paduvankarai and the Ministry of Defence instructed all military positions in the district to be on full alert.[4]
The attack
The camp detachment at the time of the attack consisted of about 250 personnel drawn from the 6th battalion, Gajaba Regiment (commanding officer, Lieutenant ColonelKamal Gunaratne) and the Sri Lanka National Guard with Captain Sudath Dabare serving as officer commanding. They lacked any heavy weapons or armor. A large force of around 500 LTTE militants attacked in the early hours of 7 March taking control of the western half of the Valaiyiravu bridge and all defensive bunkers approach path from Vavunathivu junction. The military camp was located 150m from the approach road and the soldiers withdrew before the bridge was blown up. The camp was under heavy shelling from 81mm mortars and a 85 mm field artillery gun which the LTTE had captured during the Battle of Pulukunawa. The LTTE used suicide cadres to attack the defense parameter of the camp in waves and managed to breach it by mid day and the LTTE militants entered the camp. The defending troops withdrew to secondary defense positions and continued fighting as some these positions and buildings in the camp fell. Captain Dabare, wounded in both eyes rallied the defense and launched a counter attack with the remaining troops. He was able to hold out until reinforcement under Major Saman Wedagama reaching the besieged camp by boat with the support of Mi-24 helicopter gunships the next day and the LTTE withdrew. Reinforcements from the brigade headquarters had been delayed as the LTTE shelled it with 81mm mortars on the Buffalo island and by a Black Tigers infiltration of the SLAF China Bay which left a Harbin Y-12 destroyed.[4][5]
Aftermath
Much of the camp was destroyed by the LTTE who removed weapons and ammunition they found in it. The army claimed that it had sustained 73 killed (including 2 officers), 98 wounded and 2 missing; while 160 militants were killed. The LTTE claimed it had lost 103 carders. It was claimed that the LTTE had executed an officer and seventeen soldiers they had captured when the camp fell.[2][4] Captain Sudath Dabare was awarded the Weera Wickrama Vibhushanaya in late March 1997.[6][5]
^"UPI Focus: 235 killed in Sri Lankan rebel attack". upi.com. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
^ abcTaraki (9 March 1997). "Forward march: many more miles to go yet". Sunday Times. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
^ abWickremesekera, Channa (26 February 2016). The Tamil Separatist War in Sri Lanka. pp. 1950–152. ISBN9781317293866. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
^"The Jungle Telegraph". Sunday Times. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
August 23, 2023
battle, vavunathivu, took, place, during, lankan, civil, occurred, march, 1997, which, ltte, militants, attacked, overran, lanka, army, military, camp, vavunathivu, batticaloa, part, lankan, civil, wardate7, march, 1997locationsri, lankaresultltte, victorybell. The Battle of Vavunathivu took place during the Sri Lankan Civil War It occurred on 7 March 1997 in which the LTTE militants attacked and overran the Sri Lanka Army military camp at Vavunathivu off Batticaloa 1 Battle of VavunathivuPart of the Sri Lankan civil warDate7 March 1997LocationSri LankaResultLTTE victoryBelligerentsMilitary of Sri LankaLiberation Tigers of Tamil EelamCommanders and leadersCapt Sudath DabareRamStrength 250 500Casualties and losses73 killed 98 wounded 2 missing SLA claim 1 103 killed LTTE claim 2 160 killed SLA claim 3 Contents 1 Background 2 The attack 3 Aftermath 4 See also 5 ReferencesBackground EditThe Sri Lanka Army maintained a military camp at the Vavunathivu junction to protect the access road to the town of Batticaloa located on the island of Puliyantivu were the old Batticaloa fort the Kachcheri and the Brigade Headquarters of the 3rd Brigade In early 1997 the LTTE increased its presence around Batticaloa and in the Eastern Province In January the Mavadivembu camp between Chenkaladi and Valaichenai was attacked and overrun Few days prior the LTTE began detaining vehicles going to Paduvankarai and the Ministry of Defence instructed all military positions in the district to be on full alert 4 The attack EditThe camp detachment at the time of the attack consisted of about 250 personnel drawn from the 6th battalion Gajaba Regiment commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Kamal Gunaratne and the Sri Lanka National Guard with Captain Sudath Dabare serving as officer commanding They lacked any heavy weapons or armor A large force of around 500 LTTE militants attacked in the early hours of 7 March taking control of the western half of the Valaiyiravu bridge and all defensive bunkers approach path from Vavunathivu junction The military camp was located 150m from the approach road and the soldiers withdrew before the bridge was blown up The camp was under heavy shelling from 81mm mortars and a 85 mm field artillery gun which the LTTE had captured during the Battle of Pulukunawa The LTTE used suicide cadres to attack the defense parameter of the camp in waves and managed to breach it by mid day and the LTTE militants entered the camp The defending troops withdrew to secondary defense positions and continued fighting as some these positions and buildings in the camp fell Captain Dabare wounded in both eyes rallied the defense and launched a counter attack with the remaining troops He was able to hold out until reinforcement under Major Saman Wedagama reaching the besieged camp by boat with the support of Mi 24 helicopter gunships the next day and the LTTE withdrew Reinforcements from the brigade headquarters had been delayed as the LTTE shelled it with 81mm mortars on the Buffalo island and by a Black Tigers infiltration of the SLAF China Bay which left a Harbin Y 12 destroyed 4 5 Aftermath EditMuch of the camp was destroyed by the LTTE who removed weapons and ammunition they found in it The army claimed that it had sustained 73 killed including 2 officers 98 wounded and 2 missing while 160 militants were killed The LTTE claimed it had lost 103 carders It was claimed that the LTTE had executed an officer and seventeen soldiers they had captured when the camp fell 2 4 Captain Sudath Dabare was awarded the Weera Wickrama Vibhushanaya in late March 1997 6 5 See also EditList of Sri Lankan Civil War battles Vavunathivu Batticaloa DistrictReferences Edit a b Tiger triple jump in the Eastern theatre SundayTimesLanka 1997 03 09 Retrieved 2009 01 03 a b Fighters killed in Vavunathivu SLA camp attack remembered TamilNet 2003 03 07 Retrieved 2009 01 03 UPI Focus 235 killed in Sri Lankan rebel attack upi com Retrieved 1 October 2021 a b c Taraki 9 March 1997 Forward march many more miles to go yet Sunday Times Retrieved 1 October 2021 a b Wickremesekera Channa 26 February 2016 The Tamil Separatist War in Sri Lanka pp 1950 152 ISBN 9781317293866 Retrieved 1 October 2021 The Jungle Telegraph Sunday Times Retrieved 1 October 2021 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Battle of Vavunathivu amp oldid 1135619674, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
