Narrow Strip Of Land Is Sri Lanka's Flashpoint

Agence France Presse

May 23, 2006

Ian Timberlake

A narrow strip of land in Sri Lanka's northern peninsula of Jaffna is a flashpoint that could ignite a new war in the country, according to senior military commanders.

"Tension is very high, very high," the officer told AFP on Monday. "Anytime, this can accelerate."

In the past week alone, Sri Lankan forces and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrillas have twice exchanged mortar bombs and artillery fire near the de facto front line at Muhamalai, east of Jaffna town.

Bombings, mine attacks, naval engagements and other violence has escalated around this arid peninsula as well as elsewhere in the country since December.

However, those incidents can occur without pushing the country to full-scale war, said the military officer who declined to be named. That is not true on the Jaffna peninsula, he said.

The area surrounding Muhamalai is "the most probable place" where a new war could break out because it is the narrowest part of the peninsula at the gateway to government-held Jaffna.

It is also home to the highest concentration of government troops who are estimated at 30,000 to 40,000.

"We must defuse this situation," the officer warned, expressing concern that politicians and the international community must realize the fine line that exists here between peace and war.

The Tamil Tiger rebels, who are fighting for a minority Tamil homeland and control an area south of Muhamalai, dream of retaking Jaffna where residents are ethnic Tamils, the officer said.

The Tigers ran Jaffna as a de facto separate state from 1990 till they were dislodged by government forces in December 1995.

However, the Tigers in 2000 pushed the military out of a highly strategic base at the Elephant Pass causeway linking the peninsula with the rest of the island, forcing the army to retreat about 20 kilometers (12 miles).

This de facto frontier post is now turning out to be a new frontline.

The military officer accused the rebels of opening fire with mortars in the early evening of May 16, prompting a "very heavy volume of fire" in retaliation for about 20 minutes until government forces issued a ceasefire order to prevent the situation from escalating.

The rebels, he said, received "a good beating."

Two days later, the Tigers opened fire again and received more counter-fire, he said, without mentioning whether there were any casualties.

The main exit and entry point to the government-held part of the Jaffna peninsula was shut for nearly 90 minutes amid the heavy mortar bomb and artillery exchange, military spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe said.

He said the closure was ordered to prevent civilians getting caught up in the crossfire, but government troops manning a bunker line here were hit by Tiger sniper fire last week.

Both sides are reinforcing their defences, he said, unsure when the next encounter might occur.

"They are looking at us and we are looking at them," said the officer. "Any minute, I cannot rule out things can start."

Troops, some carrying machine guns, are stationed all along the road out of Muhamalai, and many buildings still bear the scars of previous battles before a 2002 ceasefire.

The escalating violence has left that truce pact in force only on paper, and the military officials expressed concern over what the future may bring.

"We are prepared and we know what to do but what will happen to the civilians?" he asked, suggesting the rebels would try to hit civilians as they were soft targets vulnerable to attack.

"My vision is, if a war breaks out here, Colombo will go up in flames."


Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse.