Operation Pawan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Operation Pawan was the codename assigned to the operation by the
Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to take control of
Jaffna from the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), better known as the Tamil Tigers, in late 1987 to enforce the disarmament of the LTTE as a part of the
Indo-Sri Lanka Accord. In brutal fighting lasting about three weeks, the IPKF took control of the
Jaffna Peninsula from the LTTE, something that the Sri Lankan army had tried and failed to achieve for several years. Supported by Indian Army tanks, helicopter gunships and heavy artillery, the IPKF routed the LTTE, at the cost of 214 soldiers.
[2]
The late 1980s saw the Para Commandos in action in
Sri Lanka, as part of
Operation Pawan. However, lack of proper planning by the
Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) and insufficient intelligence on the LTTE's whereabouts, led
the initial heli-borne assault on Jaffna University on 11 October 1987 to be a tragic failure however it was later because of the efforts of the Para-commandos that led to the capture of the jaffna peninsula , forcing the LTTE militants to take refuge in the forests.
Six soldiers lost their lives in that ill-fated mission, but unlike the Sikh Light Infantry who lost their lives gallantly fighting to the last, the Para commandos due to their superior training, took refuge under a house, after they got misguided by a youth who offered his service to help the commandos track Prabhakaran by taking them for a wild goose chase. They engaged the enemy for a full 24 hours and picked up all their dead with their weapons after reinforcements arrived next morning.
After the failed assault on Jaffna City, the 10 Para Cdo participated in November 1987 for a heli-borne assault in the town of Moolai, 14 miles to the north-west. More than 200 LTTE guerrillas were killed and an arms depot seized. In order to give the commandos battle experience, 1 Para Cdo was rotated home in early 1988 and replaced by 9 Para Cdo.
This battalion was scheduled to return home in June 1988, but the tour of duty was extended due to a planned air assault into the coastal swamps around Mullaittivu. The mission was a great success, in that it located several arms caches. The 9 Para Cdo also provided 12 men for the security of the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka.
just..just go ahead
, if Sri Lanka is located haft of world from you, maybe you won't have to have concern about our sub visit.
