Who Dares, Wins

Nearly one year ago, on 17th September 2006, the Sri Lanka Navy intercepted and completely destroyed an LTTE arms ship in the deep seas off Kalmunai. On 28th February 2007, The Navy repeated this herculean task by destroying another LTTE arms ship south of Dondra Head. On 18th March 2007, the Navy again destroyed two LTTE arms ships Southeast of Arugam Bay. Little did anyone know that these victories were paving the way for an unprecedented 'kill' for the Navy.

September 2007 was again a busy month for Navy Intelligence. Many officers spent sleepless hours putting together a huge jig-saw-puzzle. They had scraped together an idea of the location, a date, exact number of and accurate description of four LTTE ships packed with Artillery shells and other lethal cargo bound for the LTTE. Navy Commander Vice Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda took a very bold decision. The decision was to send three of the Navy's most deep-sea-worthy and heavily-armed vessels on a very long journey. This offensive operation was to be launched far-away from the shores of Sri Lanka. The vessels included Two Off-shore Patrol Vessels and one Missile Frigate. The Navy didn't forget one crucial thing. That was to send its 'source' along with the flotilla of ships out to sea.

Thanks to the 'source' on board, on 11th September 2007, the Navy armada was able to clearly identify three LTTE arms ships in the deep seas. The Navy cautioned those on-board to stop but instead received a barrage of mortar shells. The ships were clearly LTTE. Sensing doom, each ship, with a crew of about 10-15 Sea Tigers, were using the mortar tubes on-board to attack the Navy. The Navy opened-up with its own barrage of fire, which included 105mm and 72mm cannons. Within minutes, the artillery shells on-board the LTTE ships caught fire and wrecked the ships. Gradually, the destroyed vessels sunk into the deep abyss of the Indian Ocean, never to be seen again. However, in the ensuing melee, the fourth ship had vanished. Apparently, one of the sinking ships had tipped-off the fourth vessel.

With each attack passing, the Navy has dared a little more than before. The September 11th attack was a '9/11' for the LTTE as it never anticipated a Navy ambush 1200 nautical miles out into the sea. DefenceWire has reliably learnt that Naval Intelligence units had single-handedly run the operation. Unlike the previous operations, no Military Intelligence (MI) was involved in the Navy's '9/11' attacks.

The Sea-Tigers, furious with the Navy, did some daring of their own when a cluster of their boats made plans to attack the Navy's Jetliner Transport vessel. The vessel was carrying around 3000 servicemen at the time. Effective reconnaissance helped prevent the LTTE boats being put-out into the sea. The Air Force ponded the boats and forced a retreat before any harm could fall on the Jetliner. The LTTE will most likely dare again to cause maximum damage to the Navy. Exactly when and how they would do that is the million-dollar question.