Sri Lanka: Rebel Air Raid Thwarted By Air Defense System

Sri Lanka: Rebel Air Raid Thwarted By Air Defense System

(NSI News Source Info) February 22, 2009: THE timely activation of the air defense system in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo had thwarted last night's Tamil Tiger air raid in the city, the Sri Lanka Airforce said today.

An air defense search light is seen during an attack by Tamil Tiger rebels in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Feb 20, 2009. Two rebel aircraft launched a surprise raid on the Sri Lankan capital late Friday, an act of defiance by the beleaguered Tamil Tiger rebels in the face of a punishing military offensive in the north. The military shot down both planes, one of which crashed into a government office building, killing one person and wounding more than 40 others.

"The activation of the air defense system prevented the LTTE suicide attack", Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara, the airforce spokesman said.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) carried out an air raid targeting the Sri Lanka Airforce headquarters and the Airforce base at Katunayaka outside the capital near the only international airport.

The LTTE's small aircraft hit the Department of Inland Revenue building in downtown Colombo, which is close to the Sri Lanka Airforce headquarters. The military said the rebel plane was hit by the anti-aircraft gun fire before it rammed into the 13th floor of the Inland Revenue building. At least two people died and over 50 others were injured.

"The two planes were carrying around 150 grams of C4 explosives", Nanayakkara said adding that if the rebel bomber had succeeded in hitting his intended target, the destruction would have been massive.

The second rebel airplane which had targeted the Katunayaka airbase was shot down with its pilot killed.

Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, deputy minister of finance said the attack on the Revenue Department had not damaged its data bases and the damage could be restored by next Tuesday.

"Only the 13th floor suffered direct damage and other floors had felt the impact", Siyambalapitiya added.

The last night's air raid was the first rebel military response to their successive military defeats when they lost Kilinochchi, their administrative capital early in January.

Now government troops are in their last hold of Mullaithivu and are on the verge of completely crushing the Tiger rebel challenge.

Sri Lanka Army To 'Free' Civilians

Sri Lanka Army To 'Free' Civilians

(NSI News Source Info) February 1, 2009: The Sri Lankan military has said it will move to "liberate" thousands of civilians in Tamil Tiger rebel areas. The announcement came after the expiry of a 48-hour government truce for civilians to leave the combat zone. International concern has grown over the safety of civilians trapped behind the lines during recent heavy fighting. Meanwhile, the government has warned it will expel diplomats, aid agencies and journalists it deems biased in favour of the Tamil Tigers. An army offensive has pushed the rebels into a 300-sq-km (110-sq-mile) corner of jungle in the north-east of the island, which aid agencies say also holds 250,000 civilians. The army secured the strategic Elephant Pass on 9 January, sandwiched between the capture of the rebels' de facto capital, Kilinochchi, and Mullaitivu. The agencies say the people are facing a desperate situation, with hundreds killed in combat in recent days and food supplies running low. The government says the number of civilians is closer to 120,000 and that the army has a policy of not firing at civilians. The Sri Lankan government accuses the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of not allowing civilians to leave, saying they are being used as human shields. The rebels say the civilians prefer to stay where they are under Tamil Tiger "protection". The reports can not be independently confirmed as neither side allows journalists near the war zone. 'Utmost care' Officials said about 300 civilians had crossed into government-held territory during the 48-hour truce, which expired late Saturday. "We will now have to save the civilians and move in," the spokesman, Kaheliya Rambukwella, said. "It is now very evident that [Tamil Tiger leader Valupillai] Prabhakaran is... using civilians as cover," Mr Rambukwella said. "We will take the utmost care of civilians when we move in." The military has captured the key towns of Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and the strategically important Elephant Pass to the Jaffna peninsula in recent weeks. The BBC's Ethirajan Anbarasan has been in the city of Jaffna on one of the first government-approved media trips to the city - the cultural capital of Sri Lanka's Tamil community - in months. The army captured the last remaining major rebel base of Mullaitivu on 25 January. BBC reporter Chris Morris, who was taken to Mullaitivu, says it is a ghost town, full of broken buildings. He said thousands of people had attended a rally held by a pro-government Tamil party calling for the rebels to allow civilians to leave the war zone. Meanwhile a senior government official warned that diplomats, aid agencies and media, including the BBC, will be expelled from Sri Lanka if they seem to favour the Tamil Tiger rebels. Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said bias among some foreigners was damaging security forces as they dealt the "final blow" to the rebels. The Sri Lankan army says it is continuing to make advances in its offensive against the Tamil Tigers in the north-east. In an interview with the Sunday Island newspaper, Mr Rajapaksa accused the ambassadors of Switzerland and Germany, and news organisations the BBC, CNN and Al-Jazeera of being biased. "They will be chased away [if they try] to give a second wind to the LTTE terrorists at a time when the security forces, at heavy cost, are dealing them the final blow," he was quoted as saying. Mr Rajapaksa said the media organisations were sensationalising civilian hardships by playing video clips from Tamil Tiger websites.

Sri Lankan Army Captures LTTE's Stronghold Kilinochchi

Sri Lankan Army Captures LTTE's Stronghold Kilinochchi (NSI News Source Info) January 3, 2009: THE SRI LANKAN army finally captured Kilinochchi, the unofficial capital and one of the major bases of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) on Friday (December 2), defeating the rebel forces. The heavy artillery firing by the Sri Lankan army completely destroyed all the defences of the LTTE rebels in Kilinochchi. While speaking to the media, Maithripala Sirisena, the ruling party spokesman and the agriculture minister of Sri Lanka said, “The national flag is now flying at Kilinochchi.” Sirisena further added that capture of the Tigers’ political headquarters, which was considered as the chief target of the latest and largest military offensive was a historic victory for the nation. Surprisingly, the Tigers are still silent on the issue and have not made any comments yet. Pertinent to mention that the Tigers had earlier promised to defend their political headquarter at any cost.A Sri Lankan army soldier signals his colleagues at a defence line in Paranthan December 23, 2008. Sri Lanka's president said its troops captured the separatist Tamil Tigers' headquarters town of Kilinochchi on January 2, 2009, but within an hour of the announcement a suspected suicide bomber killed at least two people in the capital. Troops fought their way into the Tiger stronghold of Kilinochchi deep in the north, in one of the biggest blows for the rebels in years. Details of casualties from the fighting were not immediately available. Picture taken December 23, 2008.

Jubilant Sri Lankans carried national flags as they celebrated the announced capture of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's de-facto administrative capital of Kilinochchi. Because the authorities do not allow journalists to travel freely between government- and rebel-held territory, there was no independent confirmation of the capture of Kilinochchi. Since the last ten years, Kilinochchi has remained the de facto capital of the Tigers’ mini-state in northern Sri Lanka. It is 330 kilometres (206 miles) away from Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka. The concerned officials of the Sri Lankan army said that its ground troops had annihilated the defences of Tigers at two locations in the city. They also confirmed that the Sri Lankan army had taken overall control of the city. Mahinda Rajapakse, the President of Sri Lanka quashed the ceasefire deal between the government and the LTTE in 2008 and ordered the flush-out of the Tigers from their bases once and for all. Though the LTTE rebels went on the defensive after such a presidential order, they eventually lost their stronghold in the east of the island and retreated to the north. President Rajapakse announced even on his New Year’s address to the nation on Thursday (January 1) that the new year 2009 would witness the final and “heroic victory” over LTTE rebels. The LTTE rebels had established their own courts, police and political administration in Kilinochchi. Some agencies of the United Nation and offices of other international aid groups also existed in Kilinochchi, which were pulled out in 2008 at the request of the ruling government. Though the victory at Kilinochchi is being considered as a major achievement by the Sri Lankan army, it is to be kept in mind that the Tigers have the ability to rebound from even the most dire situations. After the Sri Lankan armed forces captured the northern Jaffna peninsula in 1995, the Tigers carried out a full fledged attack on a military base in the northeastern district of Mullaittivu just six months after and killed more than 1,200 Lankan soldiers. The LTTEs also freed their Elephant Pass base at the entrance to Jaffna from the Sri Lankan army’s control in just five days in November 1999, which the Lankan army had captured in a 19-month-long warfare. Every year, the Sri Lankan government spends a huge amount in the conflict. While in 2008, the government spent 1.6 billion dollars on the war effort, an estimated 1.7 billion dollars would be spent in 2009. While speaking to the media in November 2008, LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran said in his annual speech that the LTTE vowed to defend their territory at any cost and suggested all Tigers to revert to guerrilla-style, hit-and-run attacks as their area shrank. He further added, “No sane voice is being raised either to abandon war or to seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict.” LTTE is considered as one of the most effective and ruthless guerrilla groups in the world. It has been carrying out surprise and suicide bombings to keep its struggle alive through the decades. LTTE has been declared a terrorist organisation by the United States, the European Union, Sri Lanka and India. Since 1972, tens of thousands of lives have been lost in this LTTE - Sri Lanka conflict.