CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

A chance encounter between the Navy and Sea Tigers off Talaimannar early yesterday revealed the existence of LTTE arms stores in India.

by Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island 12-10-2007

Although the LTTE had maintained supply bases in India even during the deployment of the IPKF here a decade ago, yesterday’s recovery of a small aircraft which could have been used to bomb a key target sent shock waves through the military establishment.

The seized Tiger remote controlled plane

The aircraft seized was five and half feet in length with a wing span of 13 feet and a one foot-long flying device. It fell into the Navy hands after a brief clash with Sea Tigers approximately 5 nautical miles north of Talaimannar.

The discovery came in the backdrop of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s two-day visit to India this week. Authoritative sources expressed concern that the LTTE was trying to hit back. "This was an attempt to give oxygen to a weakened LTTE. Definitely a lifeline," the official said.

An authoritative military official said that both craft could be packed with high explosives and directed at a high profile target with the help of a remote control device. Their operation is similar to that of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) used for surveillance operations.

One of Navy’s precious offshore patrol craft which had been involved in the destruction of eight LTTE ships on the high seas since September last year could have been the target, another official said. They included ships acquired from India, China, Israel and the United States. Another likely target would have been the Kfirs and MiG 27s based at the Katunatake airbase, the target of a crude LTTE air attack several months ago.

The Navy had detected two fibre glass dinghies shortly after they crossed the international maritime boundary (from the Indian side) heading for Vidathalthivu, north of Mannar. "Once they were spotted, we zeroed in on them," he said, "We captured both craft powered by two 25 horse power OBMs, each after a brief exchange of fire."

The navy also recovered four communication sets, fifteen 20 liter hydraulic oil cans, four satellite mobile phones, forty- five antennas, ten Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and one hundred printed circuit boards. Hydraulic oil is needed for movement of their heavy machinery.

The Navy launched a search operation to recover bodies of four LTTE cadres killed during the confrontation. One of them is believed to be a senior cadre identified as Mani. "They were trying to reach Vidahalthivu on the Mannar mainland," the official said. They had posed off as fishermen. Naval troops found fish and fishing gear in one of the boats.

The Navy recently stepped up patrols to prevent Sea Tigers from moving between South India and Vidathalthivu. After the Army secured Sillavathurai, south of Mannar, the Navy’s task had been made relatively easier. "Now, they are left with the 22 nautical mile stretch between Vidathalthivu and Pooneryn," he said.

The military said that the enemy was using India as a transit point to reroute arms, ammunition and equipment to the Vanni. The destruction of their floating arsenals on the high seas had forced the LTTE to shift the supplies it had earlier moved to their South Indian hideouts to the Mannar mainland. The Navy had successfully intercepted several trawlers moving arms, ammunition and equipment from South India to the Mannar mainland. The recent recovery of 120 mortar shells by Indian fishermen in their territorial waters, too, revealed the existence of what an officer called the Indian route. With their big ships gone down in flames, the LTTE was compelled to use the Indian route, he said.

A series of detections made by Indian authorities, both on land and sea over the past two years, had highlighted the LTTE’s growing presence there. The Kanyakumari massacre, seizure of Indian fishing trawler Sri Krishna and a spate of confrontations between the Navy and Sea Tigers this side of the international maritime boundary had proved Sri Lanka’s assertion that the LTTE remained active in Indian waters.

The Island has repeatedly discussed the possibility of the LTTE using India as a transit point, particularly in the backdrop of Sri Lanka’s success in neutralizing the LTTE fleet.

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