LTTE holding Wanni civilians hostage - Strategy Page...........

LTTE holding Wanni civilians hostage - Strategy Page

SRI LANKA-The LTTE decides who works for the NGOs, and these aid organisations are persuaded, or coerced, to do what the LTTE wants.

The families of those who get NGO jobs via the LTTE, are obliged to provide one or more teenage or adult men or women for the LTTE combat units, and these "volunteers" are expected to be diligent soldiers, or else their families will suffer, the respected military website Strategy Page said yesterday(Nov 20).

Following are excerpts of the article from the Strategy Page.

All adult Tamils are now subject to involuntary military service. Most of these fighters barely know how to operate their weapons, but the LTTE has found a way to make them useful even if they are killed.

If some of these fighters are hit by an air strike or artillery, their weapons are taken away, and pictures taken to show "civilians killed by Sri Lankan military." Unable to stop the army advance, the LTTE is trying to manipulate public opinion in India, and throughout the world, to get the Sri Lankan government to accept a ceasefire. They do this by stressing the suffering of Tamil civilians living in territory controlled by the LTTE.

These civilians are basically hostages, with the LTTE threatening to kill anyone who tries to flee to government territory.

LTTE fighters at the front line have orders to keep the army out, and Tamil civilians in.

The LTTE also puts many military facilities in residential areas. So if the place get hit with artillery or air power, there will likely be civilian casualties that can be used to try and change Indian, and world, opinion against the Sri Lankans.

The LTTE wants a ceasefire badly, but the government is demanding that the LTTE surrender its weapons before that happens. The capture of the Pooneryn peninsula now allows the army to attack the heavily defended LTTE capital of Kilinochchi from three sides. Kilinochchi is heavily defended, and the army does not want to take a lot of casualties taking it by direct assault.

So the battle is proceeding like a siege, with the army wearing down defences and taking the defenders bunkers one at a time. Meanwhile, troops are beginning to take more LTTE territory on the east coast.

The LTTE is having a hard time maintaining the front lines across the island, and the army is pushing through in more and more places, especially to the sides of Kilinochchi. The army is seeking to open the A-9 highway, which goes from the Jaffna peninsula, south through the center of the island.defence.lk