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Three LTTE ships destroyed: Navy

COLOMBO: Close on the heels of the reported arrest of Kumaran Pathmanathan, considered to be the chief of the LTTE’s overseas arms procurement, the Sri Lankan Navy on Tuesday claimed to have sunk three LTTE “arms-carrying ships”. There was no word from the Tigers on the claim.

According to the navy, the ships were sunk in attacks that took place in the Indian Ocean, 600 nautical miles south east of Sri Lanka’s southern tip of Dondra Head.

The navy said its gun ships, acting on information provided by the Intelligence Department, were patrolling in the region when sailors made the first detection on Monday morning.

The first ship was detected around 8 a.m. The navy gun ships surrounded the ship which had no ensign or name on it and ordered it to identify using the international challenging procedures. However, the suspicious ship opened fire at the navy ships compelling the sailors to fire back, destroying the ship around 10.30 a.m.

Later the same day, the navy detected two more suspicious vessels in the same waters sailing in the same direction. They were keeping about 50-km gap from each other. “By evening, navy gun ships came close to the second ship which bore similar characteristics to the first vessel. The second ship too opened fire at the approaching navy ships and was sunk around 5.30 in the evening.

“The third suspicious vessel was first detected around 10 p.m. After five hours of pursuit, the navy could get sufficiently close to it. This vessel had fired 120 mm heavy mortars at the approaching navy vessels before it was sunk by naval fire around 3 this morning”, the navy said.

Navy Commander Rear Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda said the Navy Intelligence Department had received information on the LTTE ships about two weeks earlier, and proactive action was taken by the Navy Headquarters to intercept them.

He claimed at a news conference here that with the latest triumph, nine out of 10 ships believed to be owned by the LTTE have been destroyed.

Navy media spokesperson Commander DKP Dassanayake said the LTTE ships had been carrying large stocks of military hardware, fuel and a bullet-proof vehicle for LTTE’s leader V. Prabakaran.

He said, according to the intelligence reports, there were 120 mm heavy mortar guns and bombs; stocks of ammunition for 130 mm; 122 mm and 152 mm artillery guns; spare parts for three light aircraft; one high-speed boat and fuel onboard the ships.

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