One Ceylon Dockyards Limited Ultra Fast Attack Craft (UFAC) was destroyed in a Sea Tiger suicide attack arond 2.30am this morning. LTTE has admitted it lost 3 suicide cadres in the attack.
16 sailors were on board the UFAC at the time of attack, six of whom, including the Commanding Officer (CO) were later rescued by a 2nd UFAC jointly patrolling the coastline along with the distressed vessel. The 10 remaining sailors are believed dead and are now officially classified Missing in Action (MIA).
The incident occurred in the seas off Nayaru and the Kokilai lagoon south of Mulaithivu District. High ranking Navy sources indicated to DefenceWire that the attack may have been a diversionary tactic. More details will follow.
Meanwhile rumours are being spread that Karuna Faction Supreme Commander Pillayan has requested the withdrawal of the Special Task Force from Batticaloa. These are completely false. The plan under this phase, is to vacate only a handful of the 40 STF camps in the East. The next phases will follow thorough threat assessments at the correct time.
The move follows strategic reviews of the existing defence situation. In the coming months, Air Force and Sri Lanka Navy camps in various parts of the island will be moved to strategic locations--mainly to man strategic arteries (roads) in the island.
Some of these personnel will be deployed in areas with increasing LTTE infiltration, which the East is comparatively not, and to provide protection to areas being newly liberated in Mannar, Vavuniya and Weli Oya without further burdening the Army. The East will have its own politico-military elements looking after it.
The Army may take on the role of pursuing the remaining Tiger teams in Ampara, which the STF has not completed to the satisfaction of the defence establishment. The STF was placed under a new leader while DIG Lewke took on operations in Colombo as his sole responsibility, which responsibility he has been overseeing successfully.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
One UFAC destroyed, 10 sailors MIA
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
36 comments:
i.LTTE trench:
I think the purpose would be two fold:
a) To prevent sudden massive incursions as happened Oct 2006. This will take away the element of surprise from SLA giving enough time for defense.
b) To trap and destroy/capture armour as and when they do enter into LTTE zone as exit points will be limited(i.e. Bridges by Mil Engineers)
ii. UFAC sunk:
The commander say it was a sea mine as no confrontn.LTTE says black tigers.
I think if former true then it could mean:
a)LTTE sea capability has improved.
b)It could have been a sea mine laid by SLN itself( it has declared it would mine the West coast, so theres nothing(ie India) to prevent it mining Mullaitivu coast)
Latter also possible because it was raining and night--one or two Suicide boats could have simply sneaked up.
"Latter also possible because it was raining and night--one or two Suicide boats could have simply sneaked up."
This is true, especially as they are said to have 'stealth' suicide boats that can't be picked up by radar. (Is this true? I have seen pictures of these but don't know if they are actually invisible to radar)
But of course it could have been a mine and tamilnet could be lying as usual, saying 3 tigers died to make it look more genuine. In fact, they are saying they attacked a fleet, whereas only one boat had been actually attacked. And they say 'the sea battle is continuing', but there hasn't been a battle at all.
Good Article on wikipidia About Stealth Technology.
The link is
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stealth_technology
"..........will have its own politico-military elements looking after it"
i like it.
Yes, we need politico-military elements looking after ALL liberated areas of sizable civilians population.
DW-
From earlier thread.. Can you please educate me with below query.
Why do n't we offer Karuna fraction to join the forces and recrute them as a part of the govenment force?
That would be better than trying to disarm them and trying to bump on to unwanted issues at given time.
Moreover international community wont be able to say no more about Karuna units.
From earlier thread regarding forieng education,
Having private university education is not going to solve the problem. Many parents send their children abroad so that finally they can get a job there and qutely settle down. They won't send their children to private universities anyway. Only good thing is we can gain some forieng exchange from international students. This is also questionable because we too late to do that. There are plenty of well eshtablished such institutions all over in india Pakisthan Nepal and Bangladesh.
Mnay uni students I know are earning their own money doing part time jobs.
Perein,
Bro..i think some of the new police recruits are TMVP members..only a guess
Mottapala,
Dont agree with you there.It is a very good idea to have private unis for many good reasons..Lets put it this way..sending young adults to unis is a good thing..what america did to its GI's after WWII..Even if the unis are not upto international standards in the course of time they will be better than those in some countries.There are a lot of genuine people who miss out on going to UNI's due to the system.The sad fact is that some of these fellows who get selected according to the system have got really dubious "ideas" given their behavior while at universities.I am sure you know what i am speaking of well..
Mottapala,
It is the rsponsibility of the student to show a degree of maturity while at university.The idea of getting into a university is because you want to study(forget the academic problems).If a student spends too much time on activites considered "inappropriate" for university students he or she should be thrown out and the place given to someone else who is genuinely interested in studying.
DefWire,
If the men on board did not wittiness the suicide craft hitting it, then it could be one of those single man motorised SCUBA contraptions they had for ramming ships with explosives.
Mottapala-
Do not forget most of the students will get to those countries and earn the money / work and cover the course fee / accomadation (Donot forget there is another postion send the money back to sri lanka too).
Therefore amount of money go out of the country may be much less than the income from the stundents.
SriLankan-
Mate I think JVP is responsible for those Uni kids, they keep pumping unwanted crap to those heads rather than getting them think free.
However when those kids becomes mature / professionals they stay well away from JVP :)...
The attack was launched by a suicide boat with 3 men on it. This is currently under investigation, so we will give you more details as and when we get it.
The Karuna group is heavily infiltrated by LTTE. EPDP is also heavily infiltrated. But as Pillayan and others like Markan, Riyaseelan, Parathi etc. take control of a politico-military entity with state, provincial and local govt power, they will be able to provide a much broader solution to the Tamils (at least this is the current thinking).
Now having worked with these paramilitaries, one thing is clear to us. They are not the solution, but can become an interim arrangement with a little bit of labour and luck. Once the job is done, however, we might have to get really creative about what we do with them. In some parts of the world, former para/militaries have become decent political/governance units (PLO's Arafat, Castro, Ahmed Shah Mashud etc). we will have to trust the govt.'s good judgment on this, if there's any.
Tamilnet:
Lt. Col. Anpumaran, Major Niranjani and Major Kaninila were the Black Sea Tigers killed in action.
they look like Snr. members to me ?
DW/others
Do the LTTE have lot of Lt. Col's/Major's
Sri Lanka Airforce bombs rebel radar station and center
LINK
Lkdood-
Do the LTTE have lot of Lt. Col's/Major's
LTTE has more Colonel's and majors than T56 's or AK47's :)
Dont think these monkeys to be like our KDA or US Trained well dressed inteligent guys. These savages are bare footed skinny wanni camp educated bunch of monkeys.Most of them never been to a school in their life.
One FAC Down so whats the big deal.We Are Fighting the most Ruthless terror outfit in the world. This Is the Bigest casualty reported in Months Compared to LTTE casualty rate this is nothing. We should be Expecting more things in the future Because LTTE is in Dying stages.
My Deepest Sympathy to the families of the Brave SLN Brothers who Died today.
WE SHALL NEVER EVER GIVE ONE INCH OF SRI LANKA TO EELAM.
LTTE WILL BE OVER BEFOR YOU KNOW IF OUR FORCES KEEP ON BUTCHERING LTTE AT THIS RATE
Why do not all Navy personnel wear Life Jackets when they are at sea?
this can only happen with the sln:
sln commanding officers abandon his crew and saves his own butt.
in other navies, captain or commanding officer is the last to leave before the ships sink.
Perein,
Bro i am not sure if the students have enough money to cover their fees..if they did then the host country wont be making a profit.The whole idea behind entertaining foreign applicants is to make money off them..Education is now a money making enterprise..not like before..
Bro you cant put the blame entirely on the JVP also..there are a lot of variables involved here..one being the attitude of these university entrants.there needs to be a kind of exam to gauge the "non academic suitability" of candidates who have been accepted to uni.If they fail this text they are out regardless of their circumstances..
Defencewire
any news from MANNAR ?
"in other navies, captain or commanding officer is the last to leave before the ships sink."
And how do you know this didn't happen? There's no rule saying he should go down with the craft, he's just the last to leave that's all. They are not brainwashed like LTTE cadres to blow themselves up with it.
Hey Guys..
Gilani set to be Pakistan PM
The party of assassinated former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto nominated former National Assembly speaker Yousuf Raza Gilani as its candidate for prime minister
HOW THIS WOULD EFFECT SRI LANKA?
Any Comments Guys
Srilankan-
Bro, aggreed with what in principle should happened by host country should be making the money.
But in reality majority of the students are working in those countries either in part time or full time basis to earn money.
Noltte=peace
mate, our lads manning the deck arms were body armor/ flack jackets. There are lifejackets on board.. but i guess I our guys prefer to ballistic protection to drowning! The trouble is unless the body armor has quick release straps to remove it fast..When you hit the water...the weight of it pulls you down.. one must get if off asap if they are to keep afloat.. and swim
The answer is to get floatation body armor (or jackets with floatation collars) ...several countries makes them.. but the cost more than the usual NIJ Level 3 armor with a ballistic plate (ceramic/alloy or composite)..
Another item of use could be a “boat crews dry suit” used by many navies small boat/patrol craft crews (and people like British SAS boat troop/SBS, US marines/SEALs, US navy brown water boat squadron.. French foreign legion etc) these have a compressed gas activated floatation device incorporated in a camo “life preserving” dry suit(retaining heat and keeping the individual dry), the crews could ware armor on it…
but again the prob would be weight and the tropical heat & humidity in our waters would bake our lads in a hour or so in one of them suits!
Hope this helps…cheers
"HOW THIS WOULD EFFECT SRI LANKA?"
I don't think we need to worry about that. They have a national policy and that does not change whenever the government changes, unlike in SL. They will remain the same towards us I think.
lkdood,
Mannar- play postponed due to bad weather. ground is soggy like a wet loaf of bread!
upul,
Quit watching Titanic. You are too old for such sentimental stories!
Sri Lankan military says 60 rebels, 6 soldiers killed in fighting in the north
LINK
Thanks
DW for the answer
The torrential rains could be a blessing in disguise. The rain will remove the top soil exposing shallow laid anti-personal-mines. The water may also enter the electric circuitry and render most inoperational unless most are water proof.
After yesterday's clash, they withdrew further towards the rear. They will inevitably fall back and lay mines along the re-adjusted FDL. The problem with starting and stopping offensives is you allow them to fall back and dig in and plant mines. Perhaps its better if we maintained the momentum and pushed on after breaking through their FDL despite the obvious difficulties. The alternative is to again spend days clearing newly laid mines before moving forward.
panhinda:
That is same thing I thought. I aint no military strategist. But, every pause allows LTTE to build another defence line and fatigue will set in soon.
tamilnet:
LTTE Operations Command in Mannaar said upto 55 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed in heavy fighting that ensued between the SLA and the LTTE Saturday at Iththikka'ndal in Paalaikkuzhi, Mannaar. Meanwhile the SLA has handed over dead bodies of 10 LTTE cadres, 6 females and 4 males, at Mannaar hospital Sunday, claiming that the bodies were recovered in the heavy fighting on Saturday. On Sunday, 4 SLA soldiers were killed and 7 wounded, according to LTTE Operations Command in Vavuniyaa. As the rain ceased, the SLA engaged in offensive push in Mannaar, Vavuniyaa and along the FDLs in the North.
SL government saying the 60 LTTE died...
defence.lk has some pictures with description "Bodies of the LTTE cadres who were killed in confrontations at Parayakulama and Ilanthivan on 22nd March"
http://tinyurl.com/2apqxg
DW
update on the situation(Mannaar, Northern FDL)when you can
are these casualty figurers on both sides right from what your are hearing ?
Defencewire
Small question to you sir :)
I'm assuming that SLN is going by the tiger's claim of "3 sea tigers killed" and matching that number against the suicide craft... usually the "stealth" boat carries 3 tigers...
Is there a possibility of tigers using something other than this "stealth" boat and are now purposely trying to mislead SLN by giving numbers?
I'm sure someone can clarify but i don't think those tiger boats are invisible to radar... It will anyway have a smaller signature due to it's size and shape but with the contraptions in front it's gotta have a radar signature a trained radar operator can spot...
And the other point is that how a tiger vessel sneaked up on a fleet of FAC's that were patrolling? Not been able to avoid such an attack is a different story but not knowing what hit them is just crazy unless it's an underwater job...
The underwater demolition job would be nearly impossible if the FAC's were moving fast... Even when UFAC's are not in their combat speeds they are too fast for scooters... Maybe SLN should pt for different tactics while patrolling?
Family of Sri Lanka massacre victims doubt justice
LINK
Iran, Sri Lanka Discuss Expansion of Ties
LINK
Post a Comment