COLOMBO: The combat manpower of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was halved when the outfit’s Special Commander in the Eastern Sri Lankan Districts of Batticaloa and Amparai, “Col” Karuna, quit the outfit in 2004 with 6,000 trained combat cadres.
Karuna’s defection had a great bearing on the outcome of Eelam War IV, says Thamilini, former head of the Women’s Political Wing of the LTTE in her book “Oru Koorvaalin Nizhalil” (In the Shadow of a Sharp Sword).
The defection created a severe manpower crisis in the LTTE as it had to resort to forcible recruitment and make do with cadre of less ability and poorer training during the final war in 2006-2009. This alienated the Tamil population.
Thamilini recalls that Karuna had walked away with 6,000 cadres. Karuna and his Eastern cadres had played a critical role in the military successes of the LTTE in the late 1990s and early 2000s. “I can confirm that leader Prabhakaran had reposed boundless faith in Karuna, and had special affection for him. Several times I have seen Karuna sitting very close to Prabhakaran,” she recalls.