Fighting escalates in Sri Lanka

Government leaders talks of devolution, while Army prepares to target Tiger heartland in the north.

By Mian Ridge | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

from the October 4, 2007 edition

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Colombo, Sri Lanka - As he walks across "no man's land," a desolate stretch of ground in Omanthai, in northern Sri Lanka, that serves as the de facto border of the Tamil Tigers' northern heartland, a white-haired farmer tells of his fears.

He hates living under the rule of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), he explains, as he tramps south to a military checkpoint where his bag and body will be searched for weapons.

But he also dreads the Army's escalating battle against the rebels, for many of his relatives have been recruited by the Tigers as combatants.

Sri Lanka stands at an important crossroads in the war that has killed 70,000 since 1983, when the Tigers began fighting for a northeastern homeland for the Tamil minority. This summer, the government claimed to have routed the Tigers from the east for the first time in 14 years.

Now, it has its guns trained on the north. In early September, the Army cleared rebels from Mannar, an area just south of Tiger territory, capturing a sea base, an operation thought to be preparatory for a northern assault.

The head of the Army, Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, says he is keen to follow up the success of the east in the north, and soon.

"We should not give them the time or the place to regroup," says the much-decorated soldier, as he sipped tea in the Army headquarters in Colombo. Predicting that the northern campaign would be "similar to that in the east, but more intensive," General Fonseka says the rebel heartland could be won, "in a year, maybe less."

Only months ago, the government predicted it would take two or three years to crush the Tigers, but it has been emboldened by the recent victories. And the relative ease with which Mannar was cleared, observers say, suggests the tenacious Tigers are much weakened. Last week, the government announced another coup: the sinking of three rebel freighters.

Yet analysts warn victory against the rebels is a long way off.

Push north may be more bloody

Last week, shelling was audible in the frontier town of Vavuniya, 10 miles south of Omanthai. There have been border skirmishes and aerial bombardments in the Tigers' fiefdom for months now, but military analysts say they are being stepped up.

The push northward is not expected until the end of the year. But when it comes, it will be extremely nasty, says Harry Goonetilleke, a retired air marshal and military analyst.

"I hope my words are not prophetic," he says. "But the push for the north is going to be much bloodier than the east."

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