Navy foils LTTE suicide bid on Dakshina base

Ranil Wijayapala and Rajmi Manatunga

COLOMBO: The Navy yesterday foiled an LTTE attempt to launch a suicide attack on the Dakshina Naval base when it destroyed five suicide boats speeding towards the harbour mingling with fishing boats.

Navy Spokesman Commander D. K. P. Dassanayaka said Inshore Petrol Craft (IPC) located at the Marshal Point, where the Navy conducts routine checks on the boats entering the harbour spotted the Tiger boats speeding towards the harbour entrance at around 7.45 a.m.

"Naval troops on board the IPCs and the shore batteries engaged the Tiger boats, completely destroying three of them," Commander Dassanayaka added.

"The remaining two suicide boats were blasted just outside the harbour entrance. The blasts damaged two Water Jets (Inshore Petrol Craft) of the Navy," he added.

Commander Dassanayaka said in the encounter that lasted nearly 15 minutes, one sailor was killed and 12 others injured. Two sailors were also reported missing following the confrontation.

"We believe at least 10 LTTE cadres on board the suicide boats were killed," he added.

He said the Navy, in charge of the security of the Galle harbour, conducts routine checks on fishing boats entering the harbour and also licences issued to fishermen at Marshal Point prior to fishing boats entering the harbour.

"The LTTE tried to enter the Naval base by mingling with the innocent fishermen but they failed in their attempt as the Navy detected them before entering the harbour."

Naval troops assisted by the Army and the Sri Lanka Air Force conducted search operations in the area to detect any more suspicious movements in the area.

He said the Navy was investigating to ascertain from which direction the Tiger boats arrived to the Naval base area.

The Navy on Wednesday night announced that it had detected suspicious sea movements in the sea off the Yala National Park into the Southern part of the island.

The LTTE attempt to launch an attack on the Naval base came hardly a day after their brutal attack on unarmed sailors going on leave and reporting for duty, by ramming an explosive laden Canter truck targeting a Navy convoy in Habarana.

Government Defence Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the LTTE has resorted to such cowardly acts since its string of failures against the Navy despite its claim that it possessed a fully fledged Sea Tiger Force.