LTTE ready the 'Samathanam'

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are purchasing aluminum cooking pots from government areas in large quantities to forge shells for locally-built mortars, intelligence sources reveal. The pot-collection ring operated unchallenged even a few days ago.

The Tigers have over paid for these pots sometimes by as much as Rs. 100 per pot in Medawachchiya Town and Vavuniya. Traders too have been enticed by this lucrative business. Mortars are an extremely vital artillery and sometimes even an infantry weapon. It can achieve what howitzers cannot in battle.

Some senior Amy officers in Vavuniya and Anuradhapura did not consider this intelligence to be credible at first. It is now believed that the Samathanam crude mortar system used recently in the Muhamalai battle maybe running-out of locally made mortar shells.

The Samathanam, a slightly improved version of the Pasilan 2000 makes a huge sound once charged but has a range of only 2kms. The weapon is ideal for guerrilla warfare since it is mounted on a tractor making it extremely mobile. The Tigers seem to have ample stocks of explosives probably hoarded during the CFA.