Tigers' deep sea mines pose new threat to Sri Lanka

The Tamil Tigers' deep sea underwater capability demonstrated off the eastern Sri Lankan coast Saturday might have added a new dimension to the military conflict, The Sunday Times said.

The navy could be facing a new challenge in the coming months if the Tamil guerrillas continue to attack Sri Lankan vessels with sea mines or human torpedoes, the weekly paper said.

A sea mine sunk a Sri Lankan naval Fast Attack Craft (FAC) off Nayaru on the Mullaitivu coast at about 2.25 a.m. Saturday. And although six men were rescued in the vicinity, the fate of 10 others was not known, it added.

Survivors said that they saw no Tiger vessel in the vicinity either with the naked eye or electronically and that there was no confrontation or firing. Hence the suspicion about a sea mine being the cause of the deadly explosion.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), however, gave a different version of the incident. The LTTE said there was a confrontation between the Sri Lankan Navy and a suicide squad of the Sea Tigers in which 14 navy men were killed and one FAC was sunk.

The LTTE further said that three Tigers, including a 'Lt. Colonel' and two women cadres, all members of the Black Tiger suicide squad, were killed. The names of the dead were announced.

Read more,
http://www.kalingatimes.com/international