2.2.2008
By Ravin Edirisinghe in Colombo
The Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda appearing in the Independent Television Networks "Thulawa" live TV interview telecasted on Thursday (31) expressed his views and opinions on the present conflict and the role played by the Navy in eradicating LTTE terrorism.
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Vice Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda, Navy Commander categorically denied the allegations aimed at the Security Forces and Police by various Human Rights organizations and stated that these organizations are making all these allegations for their own survival. |
He pointed out that the LTTE did enhance their military capabilities during the CFA making the Trincomalee harbor vulnerable for tiger long range fire. He also explained the active role that the naval units played after the Mavil aru issue and made it clear that the Navy utilized all its resources to cut off tiger reinforcements as well as their withdrawal via sea lines.
The Navy Commander categorically denied the allegations aimed at the Security Forces and Police by various Human Rights organizations and stated that these organizations are making all these allegations for their own survival.
Here are excerpts of some of the important points of the interview:
Presenter: Sri Lanka Navy completed 57 years of service to the country last year, if you look back at the two years as the Commander of the Navy, what can you say?
Navy Commander: Sri Lanka Navy started its voyage in the year 1934, as a volunteer force under the British rule. In the year 1957, a Sri Lankan became the first Commander. I'm the 15th Navy Commander. Especially till 80s, Sri Lanka Navy assisted fishemen, arrested illegal immigrants, assists during national disaster situations and avoid smuggling etc. But a war situation started in 80s and LTTE also started their Sea Tiger activities. With this development, the Navy was entrusted with lot of responsibility.
All the navies in the world are called as “Silence Service Force”, as many will not be able to see what we perform out at sea. We perform a silence service and even this is true for today.
But we have changed our operational tactics during the last couple of years. In early years we use to wait for the enemy to come, but today that pattern has changed. Today we go out in chase of the enemy and destroy them. What the navy has acquired today is due to the team work, dedication and high level of training.
Presenter : Even though signs of an ethnic conflict erupted during the 70s, the war situation aggravated during 80s. In earlier stages the Navy was blamed for allowing the LTTE to bring in their military hardware via sea routes. How do you see this allegation?
Navy Commander: It is true that LTTE received around 90% of their stuff through the sea lines during the early stages but not 100%. Navy did destroy some of the Tiger ships in various occasions. But especially during the last 14 months we were able to destroy 08 floating warehouses of the LTTE. This is in addition to the ten trawlers we destroyed in the early stages of 2006. We were also able to capture some of the trawlers. Lot of valuable information was obtained from arrested persons. This information helped us to seek and destroy the enemy ships.
Trawlers were capable of bringing only a small number of artillery ammunitions and after analyzing intelligence reports, we saw that the Tigers are unloading them from bigger ships to smaller ones. We destroyed a vessel on 17 September 2006, in the Sri Lankan seas. After realizing this Tigers did this activity in deep seas. Navy was able to destroy couple of ships at distances of 730 Km and 2800Km. On 7 October 2007, we destroyed another ship. All these victories did not come over night and there were times when we came back empty handed but we gained experience from all these incidents.
Presenter: You talked about Sea Tigers and some media segments stated that the sea tigers are strong. You also mentioned that LTTE lost their last ship; does this mark the end of the Sea Tiger wing?
Navy Commander : What I meant when I stated the end of Tiger last ship was about the destruction of last Tiger arms carrying ship. Yet they have their armed craft. Some craft are slightly bigger. In the year 2007, we fought Sea Tigers regularly. These confrontations reduced their fighting capability. We were able to destroy three tiger suicide boats which reached Colombo harbor January 2007. We confronted the sea tigers 11 times in the east and destroyed their vessels and craft.
Presenter: Can you fight a war out at sea in isolation. What assistance you get from the International community especially from India?
Navy Commander : We have a very close relationship with the Indian Navy as well as the Indian Coast Guard. We discuss issues of maritime interest four times a year, share intelligence and discuss about patrol patterns in either side of the maritime boundary line.
Presenter : You mentioned about the Indian Coast Guard, what about the Sri Lanka?
Navy Commander : Not at this moment. But we are making certain arrangements. Main concern is the financial aspect. A government will find it difficult to allocate funds for two navies. Defense Secretary's attentions have been drawn to this fact and necessary action is being taken.
Presenter: Ground troops can show what they acquire in terms land area, what about the Navy, what can they show, what have the Navy taken away from the Tigers?
Navy Commander : We have not allowed the LTTE to acquire any sea area. LTTE did some sea training out in the sea but the Navy took actions to stop that. Even at this stage if LTTE launches a boat we will chase and attack them.
Presenter: The Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) is no more but many still believe that the LTTE became strong during the CFA. What is your view on this?
Navy Commander : Yes I think the LTTE became strong during the CFA period. Security Forces were present in Sampur when the CFA was present. The Army and Navy did certain operations in this area. But during the CFA we were asked not to do such operations. Taking this into advantage, LTTE made it possible to attack the Security Forces camps in Trincomalee. With the Tsunami, funds came to LTTE along with communication equipment, boats etc.
Presenter : You protested when LTTE ships were trying to reach the country during the CFA. How did you react as the Navy Commander?
Navy Commander : I did not face any such situations during that time. I took over command in year 2005. But in year 2003 I was the Commander Eastern Naval area and during that period we destroyed two Tiger ships. One on 14 March and the other on June 10.
Presenter : You said LTTE is now using weapons that they used in the early stages. What is the situation in the North and their status of weapons?
Navy Commander : LTTE is now highly disorganized. They lack man power and weapons. They are now confined to a land area North of Vavuniya and South of Muhamale. If they don't have ammunition to fight they have to accept defeat or else they should withdraw. But when we are at a war it is difficult to indicate time lines. But LTTE's defeat is reaching soon.
Presenter : How do you look at Prabakaran the blood thirsty terrorist?
Navy Commander : He is not visible these days. Air Force keeps taking at targets. Tamilslelvan was a target of the Air Force including some of the senior cadres. Due to this Prabakaran finds it difficult to move around. I don't think there are many leaders left behind.
Presenter : Main obstacle in defeating Tiger terrorism is Prabakaran. Do you think the war will come to an end with the termination of him?
Navy Commander : Generally when the leadership is no more, any organization will falls apart. Yes it can be a possibility in the case of LTTE too.
Presenter : Navy has been accused of attacking fishing boats during various incidents. How do you recognize a Tiger craft and an innocent fishing vessel?
Navy Commander: We train our men and officers quite often. When the British Navy commander visited Sri Lanka in year 2006, he visited Trincomalee naval base too. The Pearl Cruise incident happened few weeks before his arrival. We showed him the model that we put using the recovered parts of the Tiger suicide boat and he too asked the same question that you asked. Experience and maturity plays a vital role in this type of conflict. These finally leads into making quick decisions, if not, we are going to face a danger.
Presenter : When we talk about the feed back from the foreign countries, I think they do praise us a lot, but don't they provide arms and ammunition, but do they provide arms and ammunition to the LTTE?
Navy Commander : No, I do not think foreign countries willingly help the LTTE. Most of the military hardware that the tigers purchase is done not from the Western countries but from those countries which had terrorist conflicts. Corrupt officials in these countries remain as a main factor.
Presenter : Morale of the soldiers needs to be high at all times. How can you explain the administration part in the Navy regarding this matter?
Navy Commander : All those victories that we had during the past couple of years are not achieved by my self alone. These victories belong to the Navy. The main reason why the LTTE is on the defeating side is due to the Unity among the three forces, Police and the Civil defense force. There are so many behind all these successes. His Excellency the President, Secretary of Defence and the Sri Lankan community, sand behind the Frces and give them the strength. Special programmes like pi Wenuwen Api" create lot of confidence on the Security Forces personnel. Then we feel that the whole country is behind us. That makes the soldier more confident.
Presenter : Are you happy with the Political leadership and support that you get?
Navy Commander: I can't comment on the past. H.E Mahinda Rajapaksa became the President after two months of my tenure as the Commander of the Navy. The President or the Secretary Defence has never influenced me. I got all that I requested from them. Some times they even asked me whether it is enough. I think the situation with the other Commanders are also the same. We have the freedom to control our own forces. This factor can be termed as the key to all military victories.
Presenter: What was the role and task of the Navy during the operations in the East?
Navy Commander : The whole episode started with the closure of the Mavil Aru sluice gate. On 01 August 2006, LTTE attempted to attack a Jet Liner passenger vessel, but we averted that. They also fired artillery at the naval Dockyard. Around 10 sailors were killed while another 50 suffered injuries. On the same day Tigers reinforced some 200 cadres in 30 sea tiger boats. With the assistance of the Air Force we managed to destroy 12 Sea Tiger boats. They tried the same thing after two days and on that day tigers lost 08 boats.
We had a detachment at Muttur and this help in the liberation of Sampur from Tigers. During this operation, the Special Boats Squadron transported around 300 soldiers. Tigers even attacked these craft. But the sailors did a remarkable job to make the induction successful. Sixteen sailors were killed in this confrontation. Due to this sacrifice Security Forces were able to keep command of Kattaparichchan, Muttur town and Muttur Police. This induction was the key to all the successes that we had in this area.
Not stopping from there the Navy also protected the sea front by blocking sea tiger reinforcement as well as supplies.
Presenter: Various Human Rights groups and NGOs point finger at the Security Forces for violating human rights, how do you see this trend?
Navy Commander : These organizations are funded by foreign funds which all of us know. If these organizations do not provide information on above aspects, then the donors will feel that their organizations are not doing a job. Because of these factors, they do this. This is simply for their survival. This is not limited to Sri Lanka, but also to the other countries in the third world.
Courtesy - Asian
Tribune
