The Charles Antony Special Regiment, was an elite infantry unit and the first conventional fighting formation created by the LTTE. It was founded on 10 April 1991, and was initially trained under the leadership of Brigadier

Balraj Brigadier Balraj (born Balasegaram Kandiah) was a senior commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Early life Balraj was the fifth and youngest child of Kandiah and Kannagias. He received his primary education in Kokkuthoduwaai ...

. It was the oldest and one of the most highly trained

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

units of the

Tamil Tigers The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

with its own military academies, research units and defence colleges for its officer corps. The soldiers in the unit all hailed from villages in the Northern Province. The brigade made history during 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 ...

when it became the first non-state military regiment to defeat an entire infantry division ( 54 Division) in a conventional battle. Military analysts say that with the fall of Elephant pass, the Charles Anthony Special Regiment established the LTTE as the only non-state military force in the world capable of such complex manoeuvre war fighting. The Elephant pass base was described as "impregnable" by a US army officer who visited the garrison months before its fall in April 2000 By October 2003, the regiment had lost 14 commanding officers and 1056 soldiers. The regiment was named after the LTTE's first military commander and a close associate to LTTE leader

Velupillai Prabhakaran Velupillai Prabhakaran (; ta, வேலுப்பிள்ளை பிரபாகரன்; , (26 November 1954 – 18 May 2009) was a Sri Lankan Tamil guerrilla and the founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ...

, Charles Lucas Anthony(Lt.Seelan). Lt.Seelan led the first ever attack on the Sri Lankan army by any Tamil militant group on 15 October 1981 when the LTTE ambushed an army jeep driving down the KKS Road in Jaffna, killing 2 soldiers. The CASR fought in over 100 battles against the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) including Operation Thavalai (Frog), Battle of Mullaitivu,

Operation Jayasikurui Operation Jayasikurui (''Certain Victory'' in Sinhala), was a Sri Lankan military operation launched on 13 May 1997, it lasted until 1999, when it was called off. The operation was initially launched for 6 months but cancelled after 18 month ...

Operation Unceasing Waves II The Battle of Kilinochchi (codenamed Operation Unceasing Waves II by the Tamil Tigers) was a battle that occurred in September 1998 for the control of the city of Kilinochchi in Sri Lanka (geographical coordinates ). The battle was fought betwe ...

Oddusuddan Oddusuddan is a town in the Mullaitivu District, Sri Lanka. In Tamil Oddu-suddan translates to 'roof-tile-making-place'. It is located nearly halfway between Maankulam and Mullaitivu Mullaitivu ( ta, முல்லைத்தீவு, tra ...

(1999),

, Battle of Jaffna, Battle of Kilinochchi and Battle of Ananthapuram .

References

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Military of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Tamil Eelam 1991 establishments in Sri Lanka Military units and formations established in 1991 {{military-stub