Operation Balavegaya

Part of Sri Lankan Civil War

Date	July 14, 1991 - August 9, 1991
Location	Jaffna, Sri Lanka
Result	Sri Lankan Military successful victory

Belligerents

Sri Lankan Military

LTTE

Commanders and leaders

Maj. Gen. (later Lt. Gen.) Denzil Kobbekaduwa,
Brig. (later Maj. Gen.) Vijaya Wimalaratne

Velupillai Pirabakaran

Strength

10,000

6,000

Casualties and losses

202-400 killed

573-1,000+ killed

Operation Balavegaya (Operation Power force) 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.

In July 1990, when Maj. Gen. Denzil Kobbekaduwa took charge as commanding officer of Northern Operations, he instituted an operation code-named "Operation Gajasinghe" to pull out troops from Kilinochchi and strengthen the camp at Elephant Pass. He also established a temporary camp at Paranthan, north of Paranthan junction, for obtaining fresh water for the camp at Elephant Pass. Subsequently, Elephant Pass camp was expanded and transformed into a massive military complex, with a main base and four mini-camps, within a stretch of land three miles in diameter. At one time the Elephant Pass base and the satellite camps covered an area about 23 kilometers long and nearly 10 kilometers wide. About 800 troops of the 6th Battalion of the Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment manned the installations.

On the 10th of July 1991 the army camp located at strategically important Elephant Pass came under siege by the LTTE. The army base commanded by Maj. (later Maj. Gen.) Sanath Karunaratne defended the camp. At that time the battle for Elephant Pass was the largest offensive operation of the LTTE. It began its first assault on the camp from the south of Elephant Pass. On the very first day LTTE attacked the camp at dawn and was supported by armor-plated bulldozers. Heavy mortars, machine guns and whatever available firepower the LTTE had was thrown into battle. Hundreds of fighters attempted to storm the defenses of the camp in wave after wave of attacks. Only a small portion of the southern defencss fell into LTTE hands.

At this juncture Lance Cpl. Gamini Kularatne of the 6th Battalion of the Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment managed to climb on top of an advancing bulldozer and lobbed a grenade into it with total disregard of his own life. He was killed during this action but the bulldozer which would have caused much destruction was immobilized. Cpl. Kularatne was posthumously the first recipient of the Parama Weera Vibhushanaya, the highest gallantry medal in the Sri Lankan Armed Forces.

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Wikipedia