Elephant Pass Military Base is a

military base A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...

located in strategic

Elephant Pass Elephant Pass, (, si, අලිමංකඩ Alimankada) Northern Province, Sri Lanka is located in the gateway of Jaffna Peninsula. It lies about 340 km north from capital. It has an important military base and used to be the island's larg ...

, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Elephant Pass is the gateway of the Jaffna Peninsula, that connects it to the mainland. As far back as 1760 the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

built a

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, which was later rebuilt and garrisoned by the

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in 1776 and later by the

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. After independence in 1948 the newly formed

Ceylon Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

built a base. This base was expanded and troops garrisoning it increased during the 1980s with the out set of terrorist activity in Jaffna Peninsula and the start of the Sri Lankan Civil War. By 1990 it was garrisoned by a full

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...

with support units. By July the 6th battalion of the

Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment The Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment (SLSR) ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා සිංහ රෙජිමේන්තුව ''Śrī Laṃkā Sinha Rejimēnthuva'') is an infantry regiment of the Sri Lanka Army; it is the second oldest infantry ...

was stationed. That month the

First Battle of Elephant Pass The First Battle of Elephant Pass (Codenamed Operation ''Aakaya Kadal Veli'', which means 'Air-Sea-Plain' by LTTE) was a battle fought in July 1991 for the control of the Sri Lankan military base of Elephant Pass, which was of strategic import ...

took place for the control of the base and the area around it. The garrison held out until the siege was broken by

Operation Balavegaya Operation Balavegaya (Operation Power force) was a combined military operation launched by the Sri Lankan military in Jaffna, the largest amphibious assault in its history. Operation Balavegaya was launched in response to the First Battle of El ...

. By the 2000 the base was home to the 54 Division of the Sri Lanka Army. That year the

Second Battle of Elephant Pass The Second Battle of Elephant Pass (code-named Operation Unceasing Waves III (ஓயாத அலைகள் மூன்று) by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), was a battle fought in April 2000 for the control of the Sri Lankan mi ...

in which the army was forced to withdraw from the base. Before the troops withdrew they destroyed much of the base including its communication tower to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. The LTTE occurred the area fortifying it. The Sri Lankan Army recaptured the Elephant Pass in late 2008( Third Battle of Elephant Pass). It has reestablished its base and is home to the 55 Division.

References

Sri Lankan Army bases Military installations in Northern Province, Sri Lanka {{SriLanka-stub