On September 27, 1998, the LTTE launched operation Unceasing Waves II, an offensive against the town of Kilinochchi. They assaulted the Sri Lankan Army's Kilinochchi complex, ten miles south of the Elephant Pass base. The following day, the Tigers captured a distance of five miles on Jaffna-Vavuniya road. Elephant Pass and Paranthan military bases, further north, were also attacked to block reinforcements. Fighting continued until September 29, 1998, when Kilinochchi finally fell to the Tigers.
Casualtiesedit
The Sri Lankan Army claimed that up to 520 Tigers and 443 SLA soldiers were killed in the close-quarters and hand-to-hand fighting over two days. On the same day that Kilinochchi fell to the Tigers the city of Mankulam, which was rebel-held, fell to the SLA. [6] But the Sri Lankan opposition party leader Ranil Wickremasinghe challenged this claim in the parliament on 10 October 1998 by providing a casualty figure of over 1250 dead and 2000+ wounded between 27 and 29 September and 1900 SLA troops had died by September 30 when the fighting had eased.[2] But the government nor the SL military had not denied this claim. Mr. Wickremasinghe's sources were said to be from SLA HQ and Military Intelligence.[2]
LTTE handed over 684 bodies, which were in good condition, of the more than 1000 dead-bodies of SLA soldiers recovered from the battlefield, according to the LTTE sources in London,[5] to SLA through ICRC in two phases.[3][8] In addition to these 262 dead-bodies were recovered by the Sri Lankan military. In Colombo, hospital officials said an additional 53 soldiers have died in hospitals.[9] A total of 989 dead bodies have been received by the Sri Lankan military.
In a heavily guarded area, representatives of various regiments spent over 20 hours identifying dead-bodies. Those who were personally identified were handed over to the next of kin whilst those who were only identified as soldiers were cremated at a close ceremony with full military honours.[10]
Tamil People reactionedit
In the north, Tamils have donated blood and helped the LTTE care for wounded soldiers. People gathered in large numbers in the area to welcome the Liberation Tigers who took part in the operation with soft drinks and coconut water.[1]
Weapons lost by SLAedit
The LTTE claimed to have captured 2 130 mm Artillery pieces, 1 Buffel and many military vehicles.[11]
The SL opposition party at that time, the UNP, claimed that 4 artillery pieces, 2 T-55 tanks, 8 Buffel, and 75 assorted jeeps, trucks and tractors were lost by SLA to LTTE, though it was not clear if these referred items were destroyed or captured by the Tigers. He also added that the SLA had also lost approximately 2,500 small arms, over 2 million rounds of small arms ammunition and over 1,000 artillery rounds.[2]
^Humanitarian Operation Factual Analysis July 2006 – May 2009(PDF). Ministry Of Defence Democratic Socialist Republic Of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
battle, kilinochchi, 1998, battle, kilinochchi, codenamed, operation, unceasing, waves, tamil, tigers, occurred, september, 1998, over, control, city, kilinochchi, lanka, geographical, coordinates, 383333, 383333, battle, fought, between, lankan, army, liberat. The Battle of Kilinochchi codenamed Operation Unceasing Waves II by the Tamil Tigers occurred in September 1998 over the control of the city of Kilinochchi in Sri Lanka geographical coordinates 9 23 00 N 80 24 00 E 9 383333 N 80 4 E 9 383333 80 4 The battle was fought between the Sri Lankan Army SLA and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam LTTE Battle of KilinochchiOperation Unceasing Waves IIPart of the Sri Lankan civil warDateSeptember 27 1998 September 29 1998LocationKilinochchi Sri LankaResultTamil Tiger victoryTerritorialchangesLTTE captured KilinochchiBelligerentsMilitary of Sri LankaLiberation Tigers of Tamil EelamCommanders and leadersChandrika KumaratungaVelupillai PrabhakaranStrength3500 troops 1 2 543 Brigade 10th Battalion Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment 4th Battalion Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment 6th Battalion Gemunu Watch 7th Battalion Gemunu Watch 9th Battalion Gemunu Watch 7th Battalion Sri Lanka Light Infantry Sri Lanka Armoured Corps Fire support Sri Lanka Artillery Sri Lanka Air Forcetroops number Unknown Intelligence Attack Team Special Reconnaissance Unit Mayooran Sniper Unit Land Leopard Force Jeyanthan Regiment Charles Antony Special Regiment Anparasi Regiment Malathy Regiment Sothiya Regiment Santhosam Regiment Manalaaru Regiment Victor Anti Armor RegimentFire Support Kittu Artillery Brigade Ratha Anti Aircraft TeamAuxiliary Force Special Border ForceCasualties and lossesSept 27 29 1250 killed and 2000 wounded LTTE amp UNP claims 2 3 857 killed 936 wounded 171 missing SLA claims 4 3 Tanks amp 1 APC destroyed 5 By Sept 30 1900 killed UNP claims 2 520 killed SLA claims 6 403 killed LTTE claim 7 Contents 1 The battle 2 Casualties 3 Tamil People reaction 4 Weapons lost by SLA 5 See also 6 ReferencesThe battle editOn September 27 1998 the LTTE launched operation Unceasing Waves II an offensive against the town of Kilinochchi They assaulted the Sri Lankan Army s Kilinochchi complex ten miles south of the Elephant Pass base The following day the Tigers captured a distance of five miles on Jaffna Vavuniya road Elephant Pass and Paranthan military bases further north were also attacked to block reinforcements Fighting continued until September 29 1998 when Kilinochchi finally fell to the Tigers Casualties editThe Sri Lankan Army claimed that up to 520 Tigers and 443 SLA soldiers were killed in the close quarters and hand to hand fighting over two days On the same day that Kilinochchi fell to the Tigers the city of Mankulam which was rebel held fell to the SLA 6 But the Sri Lankan opposition party leader Ranil Wickremasinghe challenged this claim in the parliament on 10 October 1998 by providing a casualty figure of over 1250 dead and 2000 wounded between 27 and 29 September and 1900 SLA troops had died by September 30 when the fighting had eased 2 But the government nor the SL military had not denied this claim Mr Wickremasinghe s sources were said to be from SLA HQ and Military Intelligence 2 LTTE handed over 684 bodies which were in good condition of the more than 1000 dead bodies of SLA soldiers recovered from the battlefield according to the LTTE sources in London 5 to SLA through ICRC in two phases 3 8 In addition to these 262 dead bodies were recovered by the Sri Lankan military In Colombo hospital officials said an additional 53 soldiers have died in hospitals 9 A total of 989 dead bodies have been received by the Sri Lankan military In a heavily guarded area representatives of various regiments spent over 20 hours identifying dead bodies Those who were personally identified were handed over to the next of kin whilst those who were only identified as soldiers were cremated at a close ceremony with full military honours 10 Tamil People reaction editIn the north Tamils have donated blood and helped the LTTE care for wounded soldiers People gathered in large numbers in the area to welcome the Liberation Tigers who took part in the operation with soft drinks and coconut water 1 Weapons lost by SLA editThe LTTE claimed to have captured 2 130 mm Artillery pieces 1 Buffel and many military vehicles 11 The SL opposition party at that time the UNP claimed that 4 artillery pieces 2 T 55 tanks 8 Buffel and 75 assorted jeeps trucks and tractors were lost by SLA to LTTE though it was not clear if these referred items were destroyed or captured by the Tigers He also added that the SLA had also lost approximately 2 500 small arms over 2 million rounds of small arms ammunition and over 1 000 artillery rounds 2 See also edit2008 2009 Battle of Kilinochchi Operation Unceasing Waves I Operation Unceasing Waves III List of Sri Lankan Civil War battlesReferences edit a b TamilNet www tamilnet com a b c d e f TamilNet www tamilnet com a b TamilNet www tamilnet com Humanitarian Operation Factual Analysis July 2006 May 2009 PDF Ministry Of Defence Democratic Socialist Republic Of Sri Lanka Retrieved 9 September 2021 a b TamilNet www tamilnet com a b CNN Rebels launch heavy assault on Sri Lankan army October 7 1998 www cnn com SLA suffers heavy losses in Kilinochchi VoT TamilNet 29 September 1998 TamilNet www tamilnet com Archives L A Times October 1 1998 Sri Lankan Forces Battle With Rebels Claims 1 400 Lives Los Angeles Times The Sunday Times Front Page www sundaytimes lk TamilNet www tamilnet com Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Battle of Kilinochchi 1998 amp oldid 1216914100, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
