This article needs additional citations for verification .(September 2019) |
Counterinsurgency during the second JVP insurrection | |||||||
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Part of 1987-1989 JVP insurrection | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Sri Lanka | JVP | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Ranjan Wijeratne | Rohana Wijeweera Saman Piyasiri Fernando Upatissa Gamanayake |
Operation Combine | |
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Allegiance | Sri Lanka Armed Forces |
Role | Ground warfare |
Commanders | |
Colonel of the Regiment | Janaka Perera |
Founder | Ranjan Wijeratne |
Operation Combine ( Ops Combine) was a special operation established by the Sri Lanka Army from 4 August 1989 to February 1990 as counterinsurgency operation with support of the Sri Lanka Police against the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) which had launched a its second insurgency in 1987. [1]
By the late 80s the Sri Lankan Government was at conflict with various Tamil and Sinhalese militant groups. The Tamil militants were active in the North-Eastern province and the Sinhalese militants were active in the South-Western province. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna was the most significant threat to the government as of 1989 due to their attempts to topple the government.
The JVP in 1987 bombed the Sri Lankan parliament as an attempt to topple the government. By the 1988 the insurgency came to peak and everyday, over 50 bodies were discovered on the streets.
Under orders from the newly elected President Ranasinghe Premadasa, Operation Combine was established by Lieutenant Colonel Ranjan Wijeratne, State Minister of Defence on 4 August 1989 at the height of the 1987–89 JVP Insurrection in the south of Sri Lanka. The Special Task Force was headed by Major General Cecil Waidyaratne, Army Chief of Staff with Brigadier Lakshman Algama serving as his deputy and established its headquarters at Havelock Town. The Special Task Force carried out intelligence gathering and direct action operations against the JVP, targeting its leadership. It was successful in tracking down and eliminating much of the JVP leadership which culminated with the capture and death of its leader Rohana Wijeweera on 12 November 1989. [1]
On December 27, 1989, a special police team, led by SSP Lionel Gunathilake, arrested Saman Piyasiri Fernando along with his mother and fiance; who was a sister of JVP politburo member Daya Wanniarachchi, at Koswatte, Nawala, at a rented house owned by Mark Antony Fernando, who works at SLBC. According to the police sources, the number of military books found inside the house and some of them are not found in Sri Lankan military libraries. Lalilth Wijeyrathna, Upali Jayaweera, Ranjitham Gunaratnam, Gamini Wijegunasekara and Shantha Bandara tried to regroup. However, the government forces managed to capture them and subsequently killed them on December 1989. The leadership of the JVP was transferred to Lalith Wijerathna. It is believed that Wijerathna was captured in Colombo by a special police team from Kandy either late December 1989 or early January 1990. At a later date in January he was allegedly executed by his captors in Kandy in the last days of the operation Combine. [1]
The Sri Lankan government media released on December 29, 1989, as "the leader of the JVP military wing killed along with four other cadres due to the cross fire between security forces and the JVP at their military wing headquarters, a farm located at Hedigama-Suwarapola, Piliyandala". Following the death of Wijeweera and other key leaders, the JVP insurrection collapsed and Operation Combine was terminated in February 1990 by Ranjan Wijeratne. [1]
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna is a Marxist–Leninist communist party in Sri Lanka. The movement was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 (SLFP), and another in 1987–89 (UNP). The motive for both uprisings was to establish a socialist state.
Patabendi Don Jinadasa Nandasiri Wijeweera (Sinhala: පටබැඳි දොන් ජිනදාස නන්දසිරි විජෙවීර; 14 July 1943 – 13 November 1989, better known by his nom de guerreRohana Wijeweera, was a Sri Lankan Marxist political activist, revolutionary and the founder of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna. Wijeweera led the party in two unsuccessful insurrections in Sri Lanka, in 1971 and 1987 to 1989.
The 1971 Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) insurrection was the first of two unsuccessful armed revolts conducted by the communist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) against the socialist United Front Government of Sri Lanka under Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike. The revolt began on 5 April 1971 and lasted until June of that year. The insurgents held towns and rural areas for several weeks, until the regions were recaptured by the armed forces, following strong support from friendly nations that sent men and material. Although this first attempt to seize power was quickly crushed by force, in 1987 the JVP launched a low-intensity insurgency in the island's southern, central and western regions that lasted several years.
The 1987–1989 JVP insurrection, also known as the 1988–1989 revolt or the JVP troubles, was an armed revolt in Sri Lanka, led by the Marxist–Leninist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, against the Government of Sri Lanka. The insurrection, like the previous one in 1971, was unsuccessful. The main phase of the insurrection was a low-intensity conflict that lasted from April 1987 to December 1989. The insurgents led by the JVP resorted to subversion, assassinations, raids, and attacks on military and civilian targets while the Sri Lankan government reacted through counter-insurgency operations to suppress the revolt.
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