Operation Eagle (Sri Lanka)
| Operation Eagle | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Sri Lankan Civil War | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Sri Lankan military
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LTTE | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 0 | Unknown | ||||||
Operation Eagle was a Sri Lanka Air Force operation to resupply and rescue critically wounded service personal from the old Dutch Fort of Jaffna held by the Sri Lanka Army and besieged by the LTTE on July 3, 1990. The successful rescue operation gained headlines, leading to much rejoicing island-wide and helped increase morale.
With the LTTE withdrawing from peace talks and violating the ceasefire, many Army bases in the Jaffna Peninsula such as; Palaly, Jaffna Fort and other areas such as Killinochi, Mankulaum and Kokavil were besieged by the LTTE. Talaimannar army detachment was overrun. The bases at Elephant Pass and Mullaitivu were under attack, yet stable. At this point much attention was gained by the besieged Jaffna Fort with over 200 Army and Police personnel.
Even though elements of the 6th Battalion of the Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment held the fort effectively under the command of Lieutenant Jayantha Perera and was support by the policemen of the Jaffna Police Station, the garrison was running short of food and ammunition. There were eight service personal critically wounded and required evacuation. A previous airborne rescue attempt by helicopter failed due to heavy enemy fire that prevented the helicopter from landing. At this point the air force was under increased pressure to try another rescue attempt.
The Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force Air Marshall Terrance Gunawardena gave the order to carry out a rescue operation. The Northern Area Air Operations Commander Wing Commander Sunil Cabral took up operational command of the mission was Squadron Leader Lasantha Waidyaratne, who was at the time Air Force’s Staff Officer to late Major General Denzil Kobbekaduwa GOC Northern Sector was asked took pilot the helicopter to make the daring landing. Volunteering to fly the mission he selected Flight Lieutenant Avindra Mirando as his co-pilot and Raula Fernando as air gunner.
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Wikipedia