September 4, 2007: In Sri
Lanka, one of the more successful units of the army are the "Deep Penetration
Units," that go into rebel territory to collect information, and destroy rebel
morale and combat power. These are Long Range Recon Patrol (LRRPs). They belong
to the Sri Lankan Special Force Regiment, which
was established in 1986, as one of many military reforms aimed at
dealing with a rebellion by the Tamil minority (18 percent of the population).
The Tamils were better organized, and developed a deadly terrorist
organization, as well as a strong force of irregulars. The war has been going
on since the 1970s, and over 70,000 have died so far.
A LRRP unit, of a hundred
or so men, was organized in the 1990s. The units existence and the names of
those in it, were kept secret. That's because the LTTE (the Tamil rebel
organization) was expert at hunting down and assassinating anyone they wanted
(including heads of state and senior military commanders.) Initial operations
of the LRRPs were very successful, but LTTE spies found out about the LRRP
unit, and who was in it. About 80 members of the LRRP unit were subsequently
killed by the LTTE, and the LRRP unit was disbanded. But in the last few years,
the LRRP unit, known then, and now, as the "Mahasohon Brigade" has been
reformed and is back in action.
Sri Lanka has several
Special Forces type units. There are three Army Commando Regiments, three Army
Special Forces Regiments (SF), the Navy Special Boat Squadron (SBS), the Air
Force Special Force and the Police Special Task Force. All of these are small
organizations, full of carefully selected men (and a few women), who train
hard, and are usually found heavily involved whenever there is a successful
operation against the LTTE. There are no more than 5,000 Special Forces troops,
plus some support personnel. The "Mahasohon Brigade" is part of the 3rd Special
Forces Regiment. In the last five years, India and the United States has sent
many of their own Special Forces troops to Sri Lanka to help train their Sri Lankan
counterparts.
