ABSTRACT
From early to mid-1991 after overcoming the immediate threat to the camps in the peninsula and withstanding rebel attempts to eliminate the military camps in the periphery of the Wanni, the government went on the offensive to regain the strategic advantage. The military's strategy from early 1991 by two broad objectives: keeping the Tigers bottled up in the Jaffna Peninsula and disrupting their operations in the Wanni. The search for a political solution to the ethnic issue was still on the cards. The need for tracked armour was also brought home in no uncertain terms when the army's armour got bogged down in the sand during Operation Balavegaya. The Security Forces response to the rising death toll was predictable. They withdrew some of their smaller camps. Troop movements were only by large groups. The government wanted to hold provincial elections in the region, and for this they needed the Security Forces to be in control of the main population centres.
