Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
Aslam Fazly Laphir,
PWV,
RWP,
RSP,
SF (last name also spelled Laffeer; 1958 - 19 July 1996) was a
Sri Lankan Army
ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம்
, image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png
, image_size = 180px
, caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army
, start_date ...
officer and posthumous recipient of the
Parama Weera Vibhushanaya __NOTOC__
The Parama Weera Vibhushanaya (PWV) ( Sinhala: පරම වීර වීභූෂණය ''parama vīra vibhūṣaṇaya''; Tamil: பரம வீர விபுஷனைய) is Sri Lanka's highest military decoration, awarded for a ...
(PWV). He was awarded the PWV for his actions leading the
1st Special Forces Regiment during the
Battle of Mullaitivu in which he was killed. Colonel Laphir played a major role in the formation and development of the
Special Forces Regiment
Special or specials may refer to:
Policing
* Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force
* Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer
Literature
* ''Specia ...
from the original Combat Tracker Team.
Early life
Laphir was born in
Kandy
Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...
to a
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
family
He was the eldest son of seven children born to Dr Mohammad Laphir and Siththi Hanul. He was educated at
St. Anthony's College, Kandy
St. Anthony's College, Kandy is a Catholic School, Roman Catholic School in Kandy, Sri Lanka. The college was established in 1854 by the Franciscan missionary, Felice Zoppi. The college is under the management of the Sylvestrines, Syl ...
where he was an around student, playing cricket and taking part in scouting. Having passed his advanced level examination in the maths stream, the family wanted to send him to Libya to study engineering.
Military career
Laphir instead opted to join the
Sri Lanka Army
ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம்
, image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png
, image_size = 180px
, caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army
, start_date ...
and was selected as a
cadet officer
St John Ambulance Ireland (SJAI), previously known as the St John Ambulance Brigade of Ireland, is a charitable voluntary organisation in Ireland. For constitutional reasons it is not a full member association of the Venerable Order of Saint Jo ...
of the cadet intake no 14 (long course) of the
Army Training Center in
Diyatalawa
Diyatalawa (දියතලාව, meaning “the watered plain”) is a former garrison town in the central highlands of Sri Lanka, in the Badulla District of Uva Province. It is situated at an altitude of and has become a popular destination ...
on 11 August 1980. The course officer for intake no 14 was Captain
Gamini Hettiarachchi
Gamini Chandrakirthi Hettiarachchi (24 July 1950 – 27 May 2019) ( si, ගාමිණී හෙට්ටිආරච්චි) was an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, stage drama and television.
Personal life
Hettiarachchi was born on 24 July 195 ...
. Graduating from the Sri Lanka Military Academy second in order of merit in his batch, he was commissioned as a
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank.
Australia
The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
on 27 February 1982 into the
1st Rajarata Rifles. As a young subaltern requested to join the
Commando Regiment which was turned down by his commanding officer. Following its amalgamation of the Rajarata Rifles with the
Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment
The Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Sri Lankan Army. Formed on 22 March 1988, it is named after Vijayabahu I of Polonnaruwa (King Vijayabahu, 1055 to 1110 AD). The regiment consists of 17 regular battalions, 9 volunt ...
to create the
Gajaba Regiment
The Gajaba Regiment (GR) is an elite infantry regiment of the Sri Lankan Army. Formed on 14 October 1983 at the Saliyapura Camp in Anuradhapura, it is named after the famous Sinhalese warrior King Gajabahu the First. It consists of 14 regular b ...
, he was transferred to the A company, 1st Gajaba Battalion under the command of Lieutenant Colonel
Vijaya Wimalaratne
Major General Vanigamuni Indrajith Vijeyakumar Mendis Wimalaratne, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, psc, GR ( si, විජය විමලරත්න; 25 August 1940 – 8 August 1992) was a senior Sri Lanka Army officer. One of the most distinguish ...
. With the Gajaba Regiment, Lieutenant Laphir served in the North and Eastern provinces as the
Sri Lankan Civil War escalated. During this time he was attached to the military intelligence unit functioning under the
Security Forces Headquarters – Jaffna
Security Forces Headquarters – Jaffna (SFHQ-J) is a regional command of the Sri Lanka Army, that is responsible for the operational deployment and command all army units stationed in and around the Jaffna Peninsula in the Northern Province.
I ...
due to his proficiency in the
Tamil language
Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pudu ...
. When this unit was absorbed into the newly formed
National Intelligence Bureau
The State Intelligence Service (SIS) is an intelligence agency of the Sri Lankan government. It is the primary civilian intelligence agency of Sri Lanka and is responsible for both internal and external intelligence-gathering. It comes under the ...
, Lieutenant Laphir was transferred to it. He was invited by Major Gamini Hettiarachchi to join the newly formed Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) – Special Forces in 1985 which became the forerunner to elite
Special Forces Regiment
Special or specials may refer to:
Policing
* Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force
* Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer
Literature
* ''Specia ...
. Lieutenant Laphir led the B "Bravo" Squadron of the RDF and played a major role in the development of the Special Forces operations in the early days developing it into a formidable
Special Forces
Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
unit, which specialized in rapid deployment operations, counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism warfare, reconnaissance and battlespace preparation in the medium and deep battle-space and jungle warfare. He took part in the
Vadamarachchi Operation
Operation Liberation also known as the Vadamarachchi Operation was the military offensive carried out by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces in May and June 1987 to recapture the territory of Vadamarachchi in the Jaffna peninsula from the LTTE (Tam ...
with the RDF. Promoted to Captain and then Major he remained in command of the B "Bravo" Squadron taking part in major operations against the LTTE which included
Operation Thrividha Balaya
Operation Thrividha Balaya was a combined military operation, the first of its kind, launched by the Sri Lankan Military in Jaffna. The Operation was carried out to break the siege of the Sri Lanka Army garrison of the old Dutch Jaffna Fort ...
,
Operation Sea Breeze and
Operation Riviresa
Operation Riviresa (Operation Sunrays), was a combined military operation launched by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces in Jaffna. Starting on 17 October 1995, the primary objective of the operation was the capture of the city of Jaffna and rest of ...
. He served as group commander, squadron commander, battalion second in command, chief instructor of the Special Force Training School and then was appointed
commanding officer
The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...
of the 1st Special Forces Regiment (1 SF) on 8 February 1996.
Battle of Mullaitivu
On 18 July 1996 the Sri Lanka Army base at
Mullaitivu
Mullaitivu ( ta, முல்லைத்தீவு, translit=Mullaittīvu; si, මූලදූව, translit=Mūladūva) is the main town of Mullaitivu District, situated on the north-eastern coast of Northern Province, Sri Lanka. A largely f ...
came under heavy attack by
LTTE
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
, following a rescue operation code-named ''
Operation Thrivida Pahara'' was launched to relieve the besieged base by landing troops by both air and sea. The initial landings were carried out on the 19th by an all-volunteer force of 275 elite commandos from the 1st special forces regiment led by their commanding officer,
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
Lafir, who were heli-dropped under heavy fire and made radio contact with the besieged troops. Personally leading the attack under heavy fire Lafir was wounded by severe gunshot injuries, yet continued to lead his men until he was killed by shrapnel from a nearby explosion. His men recovered his body and transported it back in a
SLAF helicopter that had landed the second batch of commandos. For his courageous action on that day he was awarded the
Parama Weera Vibhushanaya __NOTOC__
The Parama Weera Vibhushanaya (PWV) ( Sinhala: පරම වීර වීභූෂණය ''parama vīra vibhūṣaṇaya''; Tamil: பரம வீர விபுஷனைய) is Sri Lanka's highest military decoration, awarded for a ...
, the highest award for valour in Sri Lanka and promoted to the rank of
Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
posthumously.
Honors and decorations
His badges include: the
Special Forces Regiment Badge and Tab, the
Special Forces Badge, and the
Parachute Badge. The Colonel Fazly Laphir Memorial Auditorium of the
Sri Lanka Military Academy
The Sri Lanka Military Academy () (SLMA or SLMA Diyatalawa), commonly known simply as Diyatalawa, is the Sri Lanka Army's training centre where officer cadets are trained for getting commission. It is located in the garrison town of Diyatalawa ...
was named after Laphir in 2014.
Family
He married Anoma Wickramasuriya, granddaughter of
D. M. Rajapaksa in 1992. Her brothers are Lieutenant Colonel
Prasanna Wickramasuriya
Lieutenant Colonel Prasanna Wickramasuriya, WWV, RWP, RSP is a highly decorated (retired) Sri Lanka Army officer who served as Chairman of Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd. As a two time recipient of the Weera Wickrama Vibhushana ...
and
Jaliya Wickramasuriya
Jaliya Wickramasuriya is a Sri Lankan businessmen. A close relative of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, he was the Sri Lankan Ambassador to the United States from 2008 to 2014, until the US government asked the Sri Lankan government to rec ...
. She is a first cousin of
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to ...
who served as
President of Sri Lanka
The President of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති ''Śrī Laṃkā Janādhipathi''; ta, இலங்கை சனாதிபதி ''Ilankai janātipati'') is the head of state and head of government of t ...
from 2005 to 2015 and of Lieutenant Colonel
Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Lieutenant Colonel Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa ( si, නන්දසේන ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ; ta, நந்தசேன கோட்டாபய ராஜபக்ஷ; born 20 June 1949) is a former Sri Lankan militar ...
who is the current President of Sri Lanka.
See also
*
Awards and decorations of the military of Sri Lanka
The Sri Lankan Armed Forces award medals and their associated ribbon bars in recognition of various levels of service, personal accomplishments and commemorative events while a regular- or volunteer serviceperson is a member of the Sri Lanka Arm ...
References
‘DARED DETERMINED AND DONE’www.lankalibrary.comFormer Mullaittivu Battle Hero Colonel Laffeer Remembered ''Sri Lanka Army''
External links
Sri Lanka Army
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lafir, Aslam Fazly
1958 births
1996 deaths
Alumni of St. Anthony's College, Kandy
People from Kandy
Recipients of the Parama Weera Vibhushanaya
Sri Lanka Military Academy graduates
Gajaba Regiment officers
Special Forces Regiment officers
Sri Lankan Malays
Sri Lankan military personnel killed in action
Sri Lankan Muslims
Sri Lankan colonels