| Battle of Sampur | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Sri Lankan civil war | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Military of Sri Lanka | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 33 killed (SLA claim) [ citation needed ] | 200+ killed (SLA claim) [ citation needed ] 97 Civilians killed, 215 Civilians injured and 46,000 were displaced (LTTE claim) [1] | ||||||
The Battle of Sampur was fought in 2006 for the town of Sampur.
Since the resumption of violence, concerns were mounting among the military establishment that the strategically crucial [2] Sri Lanka Navy base in Trincomalee was under grave threat from LTTE gun positions located in and around Sampur, which lies across the Koddiyar Bay from Trincomalee. [3] [4] Artillery fired from LTTE bases in the area could potentially cripple the naval base, bringing it to a complete standstill and therefore cutting the only military supply chain to Jaffna. All movements of naval vessels were also under the constant surveillance of the LTTE. [3] These fears were backed up by a United States military advisory team which visited the island in 2005.
Following the clashes in Mavil Aru (Mavil Oya) and Muttur (Mooduthara), the LTTE had intensified attacks targeting the naval base in Trincomalee, [4] and in a speech on 21 August, Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse made clear the government intentions were to neutralise the LTTE threat from Sampur . [4] On 28 August, the Sri Lankan military launched an assault to retake the LTTE camps in Sampur, and the adjoining Kaddaiparichchan and Thoppur (Thuupapura) areas. This led the LTTE to declare that if the offensive continued, the ceasefire would be officially over.[ citation needed ]
After steady progress, Sri Lankan security forces led by Brigade Commander Sarath Wijesinghe [5] re-captured Sampur (Somapura) from the LTTE on 4 September, and began to establish military bases there, [6] as the LTTE admitted that the army had control of the area and stated their cadres withdrew from the strategically important town. [7] It marked the first significant territorial change of hands since the signing of the ceasefire agreement in 2002. [8] The Sri Lankan Military claimed that it lost 33 soldiers in the offensive. The Sri Lankan Military further claimed that and over 200 LTTE cadres were killed. [5] LTTE claimed that 97 civilians were killed and over 215 civilians were further injured as a result of the military offensive. LTTE also pointed out that this offensive was a violation of the Cease Fire Agreement by the Sri Lankan Military. [4]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a Tamil militant organization that was based in northeastern Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankan Civil War was a civil war fought in Sri Lanka from 1983 to 2009. Beginning on 23 July 1983, it was an intermittent insurgency against the government by the Velupillai Prabhakaran-led Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the north-east of the island, due to the continuous discrimination and violent persecution against Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lanka government.
The Sea Tigers was the naval wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam during the Sri Lankan Civil War. It was founded in 1984. The Sea Tigers had a number of small but effective suicide bomber vessels. During its existence it had gained a reputation as a capable adversary for the Sri Lankan Navy. During the civil war, the Sea Tigers had sunk at least 29 Sri Lankan small inshore patrol boats, 20 Dvora Class fast attack craft, 3 gunboats, 2 Large surveillance command ships, and one freighter.
The Mavil Aru is a waterway that supplies water to some regions of eastern Sri Lanka. The closing of the sluice gates is considered to be the official beginning of the Eelam War IV although violence including skirmishes and bombings happened before.
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).
Eelam War IV is the name given to the fourth phase of armed conflict between the Sri Lankan military and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Renewed hostilities began on the 26 July 2006, when Sri Lanka Air Force fighter jets bombed several LTTE camps around Mavil Aru anicut. The government's casus belli was that the LTTE had cut off the water supply to surrounding paddy fields in the area. Shutting down the sluice gates of the Mavil Aru on July 21 depriving the water to over 15,000 people - Sinhalese and Muslim settlers under Sri Lankan state-sponsored colonisation schemes in Trincomalee district. They were denied of water for drinking and also cultivating over 30,000 acres of paddy and other crops. The fighting resumed after a four-year ceasefire between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and LTTE. Continued fighting led to several territorial gains for the Sri Lankan Army, including the capture of Sampur, Vakarai and other parts of the east. The war took on an added dimension when the LTTE Air Tigers bombed Katunayake airbase on March 26, 2007, the first rebel air attack without external assistance in history.
The Eastern Theatre of Eelam War IV started in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka on July 21, 2006 when the LTTE cut off the water supply to rice fields in eastern Trincomalee district. The government claimed total control of the Eastern province after capturing Thoppigala on July 11, 2007, after nearly a year of fighting. Major battles took place at Sampoor, Vakarai, Kanchikudicharu, Kokkadichloai and Thoppigala. Military and civilian deaths were relatively low on both sides. Government forces captured much military hardware from the LTTE during the conflict. The civilians managed to flee the combat zones, and this reduced civilian casualties, while swelling the number of internally displaced people (IDP). The world health organization (WHO) estimated ~200,300 IDPs, and claims that significant progress occurred in resettling them. The LTTE vowed to attack Sri Lanka's military and economic targets across the country to retaliate for the capture of the Eastern province from them. This was stated by the leader of the LTTE's political wing, S.P. Thamilchelvan, in a statement to Associated Press on July 12, 2007.
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 Battle of Thoppigala took place between the Sri Lanka Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fought during a period of the first half of 2007 over control of the LTTE-dominated peak of Thoppigala, located 40 km northwest of Batticaloa, in eastern Sri Lanka.
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Operation Jayasikurui, was a Sri Lankan military operation launched on 13 May 1997, it lasted until 1999, when it was called off. The operation was initially launched for 6 months but cancelled after 18 months as Sri Lankan government faced huge loss. It was the largest military operation undertaken by the armed forces at the time.
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The Battle of Kilinochchi was a land battle fought between the Sri Lankan Military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for control of the town of Kilinochchi in the Northern Theatre of Eelam War IV during the Sri Lankan civil war between November 2008 and January 2009. The town of Kilinochchi was the administrative center and de facto capital of the LTTE's proposed state of Tamil Eelam.
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