One UFAC destroyed, 10 sailors MIA

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.