Secrets exposed by Major General of how Prabhakaran was killed

Secrets exposed by Major General of how Prabhakaran was killed

Major General Kamal Guneratna who commanded the 53rd brigade which killed LTTE Prabhakaran has published a book recently after his retirement which brought out his experiences in warfare. In the book he has dispelled some uncertainties about certain incidents that took place during the final days of the war. Shown below are the ideas he had expressed to a newspaper about it.

* What happened during the last four days of the war?
   By May 16th, 2009 we cornered the terrorists to a space of 800 metres. After that the first attack was on the 17th. By that time it was the 53rd brigade which was in the North of Nandikadal Lagoon. The 58th brigade was on the East and in the West was the lagoon. Early morning on the 17th a host of boats came racing from the direction of Nandikadal Lagoon. That attack was so severe that six of the suicide boats which were speeding at such a speed happened to rush several metres towards land and got blasted after striking the security cordon. But our soldiers didn't give up. They drove away the rebels by safeguarding the security cordon at the same time. This in fact was the last attack used to save Prabhakaran's life. Their motive was to break the security cordon and to take Prabhakaran to Mankulam Jungle. If that happened, the battle would go on for another 6 months. Later we were able to know that the Tigers had hidden guns and food in Mankulam Forest and had made markings for identification by employing the satellite system.

* From where did the LTTE rebels come for this attack?
   They came from Kadalana Jungle. It was Brigadier Shavindra Silva who was assigned the task of launching the attack on it. I told him, "Finish off that region ... if not the Tigers would run over my head!"  He said, "Yes Sir, though we said that we'll attack, because the casualties began to increase more and more, we couldn't get Kadalana Jungle that day".

* How did the news spread that Prabhakaran was dead inside an ambulance?
   The terrorists tried to take cover under the displaced people and creep into our area. But I issued instructions not to take anyone during night time. But because those who were there tried to make a commotion, an officer made some gun shots into the air. The terrorists who were hiding among the people got upset and then began to launch a severe attack. About 300 metres of our security cordon was broken in that instance and the Tigers began to gain entrance. But we reorganised ourselves and attacked the rebels. By early dawn on 18th we managed to bring the situation under control. It was in this attack that Prabhakaran's eldest son Charles Anthony perished. The 53rd brigade found his dead body.

In the meantime one of our injured soldiers was taken for treatment in an ambulance. The Tigers attacked this vehicle in the process of the journey and got hold of it. Some of our soldiers who came to know about this shot and killed the three rebels involved in that attack. Even by that time the ambulance was in flames. It was this incident which went from mouth to mouth and even reached international circles ... that Prabhakaran was dead inside an ambulance. An army commander spoke to me and asked about this. I told him that it was a false rumour.

* What happened to Prabhakaran after this attack?
   We didn't get any news of Prabhakaran as such. Though we had hundreds of equipment to tap the telephones, in none of those instances did we hear Prabhakaran's voice.

* Then is it by tapping a telephone that you came to hear that Prabhakaran was taking refuge in Kadalana Jungle?
   No. If someone says that Prabhakaran's phone was tapped; it's an absolute lie. None of us knew that he was in Kadalana Jungle.

* How did you'll manage to get hold of Kadalana Jungle?
   On 18th morning Major General Jagath Dias of 57th brigade, Shavindra Silva of the 58th brigade, Brigadier Chargi Gallage, Brigadier Priyantha Napagoda of the artillery brigade, Brigadier Colonel Athula Kodippily of the special commando section and Brigadier Commando Colonel Ralph Nugera stepped into my operations chamber. On that occasion it was decided to get Kadalana Jungle under our control. The fight went on until 11.00 in the morning. They informed that 150 terrorists who were there were killed and that the operations was over. In the meantime I received a piece of information that naval Tiger leader Susei is there. Susei is someone who's an accomplished fighter. There's no turning back from him. I once again issued orders that an attack be launched in the area where Susei was. Again the soldiers began launching an attack on Kadalana Jungle. On that attack LTTE armed unit leader Bhanu too was killed. Now because dead bodies of all Tiger leaders had been identified, I gave a telephone call to the Army Commander. "Sir, every inch of our motherland is once again in our possession ... everything is now over," I told him. He was silent for a moment and then asked me "Where's Prabhakaran?" I actually had no answer for that. He then said that "If Prabhakaran is not dead ... the war is not over!". Whatever it is, we missed Prabhakaran on 18th night.

* Then what happened to Prabhakaran?
   Our Intelligence Unit was not aware whether he is in the country or had fled to another country. I told the Army Commander that the 53rd brigade has surrounded Kadolana Jungle and that nobody could escape from there and because Kadolana Jungle was pitch dark in the night, an inspection would be carried out once more in the morning.

* What happened on 19th morning?
   Thee whole country was tasting kiri bath that morning to rejoice the victory. The President had been to the parliament to attend a session there. The Army Commander too was in parliament. I also while tasting a piece of kiri bath prepared by our soldiers, sat down to listen to the President's speech. After a short time later Colonel Ravipriya spoke and said "Sir, there's a problem once again in Kadolana Jungle ... come quickly. With one hop step and jump I got into the jeep and went to Kadolana Jungle. I gave instructions to the 4th Wijayabahu Infantry to rush to the jungle and launch an operation. About 45 minutes elapsed. I instructed the Commanding Officer of 4th Wijayabahu Infantry Major Rohitha Aluvihare to utilise two groups of eight each and to launch an attack. It was Sergeants T.M. Muthubanda and M.G. Wijeysingha who launched this attack under the leadership of Lieutenant G.M.D. Nalaka. After the attack was over I was able to hear the happiest piece of news in my whole life.

* Who gave the news?
   "Sir, it was Colonel Ravipriya who told me that Prabhakaran has been killed by the last attack". We couldn't believe that story. What I wanted was to confirm that news. I told Lalantha Gamage to go inside the jungle and confirm that news. 10 minutes later he shouted out to me and said, "Sir, eureka ... the job is finished ... here, this is Prabhakaran!"

Rumours float around even to this day about Prabhakaran's death. One story is that he was brought to Colombo alive and that the President aimed a slap on his face. Another story is spreading saying that the Army Commander also hit him.

* Of all these rumours ... what is the true one?
   All those are false stories. He was killed around 9.30 on the morning of May 19th, 2009. He didn't die from a commando or sniper attack. He was actually killed by two groups comprising eight each from the Wijayabahu Infantry. Prabhakaran was not taken alive. None of us knew that Prabhakaran had been hiding inside Kadolana Jungle. We shot at terrorists inside the jungle. We came across Prabhakaran's corpse during search operations and then identified him. That's the truth.

* A dissenting story is revealed for the first time in your book that an American intervention was targetted at Sri Lanka during the last stages of the war. What is its background?
   During the last stages of the war several powerful countries including America created great pressure on Sri Lanka. They made a compulsion asking that a third party allow LTTE to give up their resistance. However the Secretary of Defence Gotabhaya Rajapaksa stood his ground and said that if the LTTE was to yield, it was only to the Sri Lankan Army. Whatever pressure was imposed from Western countries, he didn't budge from his ground. Because of that he sounded a warning note that America would launch an attack on us. At that time the even the Chinese Army Commander Hun spoke to me over the telephone and made a warning about an American air attack.

* What was your response about this warning?
   We used several strategies to save the lives of soldiers if at all such an attack was launched. Whatever it is, we didn't tell anyone of the lower ranks about this threat. Only brigadiers were aware of it.

Discussion -- Mihiri Fonseka (Lakbima)