Elephant Pass Military Base | |
---|---|
Elephant Pass, Northern Province | |
Type | Military base |
Site information | |
Controlled by | Sri Lanka Army |
Site history | |
In use | 19?? – 2000 and 2008 – present |
Battles/wars | First Battle of Elephant Pass, Second Battle of Elephant Pass, Third Battle of Elephant Pass |
Garrison information | |
Past commanders | Major General Sanath Karunaratne, Major General Percy P. Fernando |
Garrison | 55 Division |
Elephant Pass Military Base is a military base located in strategic Elephant Pass, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Elephant Pass is the gateway of the Jaffna Peninsula, which connects it to the mainland.
As far back as 1760 the Portuguese built a fort, which was later rebuilt and garrisoned by the Dutch in 1776 [1] and later by the British. After independence in 1948 the newly formed Ceylon Army built a base. This base was expanded, and troops garrisoning it increased during the 1980s with the outset of terrorist activity in Jaffna Peninsula and the start of the Sri Lankan Civil War. By 1990 it was garrisoned by a full battalion with support units. By July the 6th battalion of the Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment was stationed. That month the First Battle of Elephant Pass took place for the control of the base and the area around it. The garrison held out until the siege was broken by Operation Balavegaya. By 2000 the base was home to the 54 Division of the Sri Lanka Army. That year the Second Battle of Elephant Pass was fought, in which the army was forced to withdraw from the base. Before the troops withdrew they destroyed much of the base, including its communication tower, to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. The LTTE occupied the area, fortifying it. The Sri Lankan Army recaptured the Elephant Pass in late 2008, in the Third Battle of Elephant Pass. It has reestablished its base and is home to the 55 Division.
Lieutenant General Denzil Lakshman Kobbekaduwa, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP was a senior Sri Lankan Army officer who served in the 1971 Insurrection and the Sri Lankan Civil War.
Major General Vanigamuni Indrajith Vijeyakumar Mendis Wimalaratne, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP was a senior Sri Lanka Army officer. One of the most distinguished field commanders in Sri Lanka, Wimalaratne raised the Gajaba Regiment, he commanded the 1st Brigade during the Vadamarachchi Operation, he commanded the Amphibious Task Force Commander during Operation Balavegaya and was the Commander Security Forces – Jaffna at the time of his death in a land mine explosion at Point Arali in the Kayts Island while making preparations to re-capture Jaffna.
Elephant Pass is located at the gateway of the Jaffna Peninsula in Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It lies about 340 km north of the capital. It has an important military base and used to be the island's largest salt field. It was regularly the site of battles during the Sri Lankan Civil War.
Corporal Gamini Kularatne PWV, SLSR (S/34553) was a Sri Lankan soldier. He was the first recipient of the Parama Weera Vibhushanaya, the highest award for gallantry awarded by the Sri Lanka Army for his actions during the Elephant Pass Siege, in which he was killed.
Operation Pawan was the code name assigned to the operation by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to take control of Jaffna from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), better known as the Tamil Tigers, in late 1987 to enforce the disarmament of the LTTE as a part of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord. In brutal fighting lasting about three weeks, the IPKF took control of the Jaffna Peninsula from the LTTE, something that the Sri Lankan Army had tried but failed to do. Supported by Indian Army tanks, helicopter gunships and heavy artillery, the IPKF routed the LTTE at the cost of 214 soldiers and officers.
The A9 Highway is a 321-kilometer-long (199 mi) highway in Sri Lanka, which connects the central city of Kandy with Jaffna, a city on the northern tip of the island.
Eelam War II is the name given to the second phase of armed conflict between Sri Lankan military and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The war started after the failure of peace talks between the Premadasa government and the LTTE. This phase of the war was initiated by the LTTE who massacred almost 600 Sinhalese and Muslim police personnel after they were ordered by the Premadasa government to surrender to the LTTE. The truce was broken on June 10, 1990, when the LTTE in October expelled all the 28,000 Muslims residing in Jaffna.
Eelam War III is the name given to the third phase of armed conflict between the Sri Lankan military and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Operation Liberation also known as the Vadamarachchi Operation was the military offensive carried out by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces in May and June 1987 to recapture the territory of Vadamarachchi in the Jaffna peninsula from the LTTE. At the time it was the largest combined services operation undertaken by the armed forces deploying multiple brigade-size formation, becoming the first conventional warfare engagement on Sri Lankan soil after the end of British colonial rule. The operation involved nearly 4,000 troops, supported by ground-attack aircraft, helicopter gunships and naval gun boats. The offensive achieved its primary objective, however operations were suspended when the Indian government dropped food supplies over Jaffna in Operation Poomalai on June 4, 1987, which prompted the Sri Lankan government to accept the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord.
The Battle of Mullaitivu, also known as the First Battle of Mullaitivu and codenamed Operation Unceasing Waves-1, was a battle between the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan military during the Sri Lankan Civil War for control of the military base in Mullaitivu in north-eastern Sri Lanka.
The Second Battle of Elephant Pass, was fought in April 2000 for the control of the Sri Lankan military base in Elephant Pass, Jaffna.
The Battle for the A-9 highway was fought in March and April 2000 for the control of the Sri Lankan A-9 highway.
The First Battle of Elephant Pass was fought in July 1991 for the control of the Sri Lankan military base of Elephant Pass, which was of strategic importance as it linked the northern mainland known as Wanni with the Jaffna Peninsula. The battle was fought between troops of the Sri Lankan army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, commonly known as LTTE.
The Battle of Jaffna was fought in two phases in August and October 2006 for the Jaffna peninsula. It was the fourth battle for the peninsula since the start of the Sri Lankan civil war.
The Battle of Pooneryn took place between the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan military during the Sri Lankan Civil War for control of the military base in Pooneryn in northern Sri Lanka from 11 November to 14 November 1993.
Operation Riviresa, was a combined military operation launched by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces in Jaffna. Starting on 17 October 1995, the primary objective of the operation was the capture of the city of Jaffna and rest of the Jaffna peninsula from the LTTE. It is believed that Operation Riviresa was the largest and most successful military operation in Sri Lankan Armed Forces during the Third Eelam War.
Operation Balavegaya was a combined military operation launched by the Sri Lankan military in Jaffna, the largest amphibious assault in its history. Operation Balavegaya was launched in response to the siege of Elephant Pass by the LTTE. It is believed that Operation Balavegaya was the largest and most successful military operation of the Sri Lankan military until Operation Riviresa in 1995.
Velayuthapillai Baheerathakumar was a leading member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist Tamil militant organisation in Sri Lanka. He played a leading role in the LTTE's military victories in the Vanni during Eelam War III, including Mullaitivu (1996), Kilinochchi (1998), Oddusuddan (1999) and Elephant Pass (2000). He was killed at the Battle of Ananthapuram in the last days of the Sri Lankan Civil War.
The Charles Antony Special Regiment, was a commando unit and the first conventional fighting formation created by the LTTE. It was founded on 10 April 1991, and was initially trained under the leadership of Brigadier Balraj. It was the oldest and one of the most highly trained infantry units of the Tamil Tigers with its own military academies, research units and defence colleges for its officer corps. The soldiers in the unit all hailed from villages in the Northern Province. The brigade made history during the Second Battle of Elephant Pass when it became the first non-state military regiment to defeat an entire infantry division in a conventional battle. Military analysts say that with the fall of Elephant pass, the Charles Anthony Special Regiment established the LTTE as the only non-state military force in the world capable of such complex manoeuvre war fighting. The Elephant pass base was described as "impregnable" by a US army officer who visited the garrison months before its fall in April 2000 By October 2003, the regiment had lost 14 commanding officers and 1056 soldiers. The regiment was named after the LTTE's first military commander and a close associate to LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, Charles Lucas Anthony(Lt.Seelan). Lt.Seelan led the first ever attack on the Sri Lankan army by any Tamil militant group on 15 October 1981 when the LTTE ambushed an army jeep driving down the KKS Road in Jaffna, killing 2 soldiers.
Poonakary or Pooneryn, is a strategically important village situated on the Jaffna Lagoon, directly across from the Jaffna Peninsula in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka.
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