International   

Pitched battle in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: Two Indian technicians attached to the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) radar system at Vavuniya were injured in a pre-dawn air and ground raid by the LTTE on Tuesday.

Twelve soldiers, 10 suicide cadres of the LTTE, a police person and a civilian were killed in the pitched battle that followed the attack, targeting SLAF assets and the Wanni headquarters of the military.

The SLAF claimed that two light wing LTTE aircraft, part of the mission, were detected and fired upon by the activated radar system.

The Tiger aircraft dropped two bombs in the vicinity of the military headquarters and airbase.

Minister and Defence spokesperson Keheliya Rembukwella told a news conference here that the LTTE failed in its mission to hit the radar system and the military headquarters.

He said one aircraft was intercepted by SLAF jets flown from the Katunayaka airbase, on the outskirts of the national capital, and brought down over Mullaithivu.

In a statement, the LTTE said its aircraft ‘safely returned home’ after causing ‘considerable damage’ to the air and ground assets of the Sri Lanka forces.

The injured Indian technicians, A.K. Thakur and Chintamani Rout, have been based in Vavuniya since August this year to help in the maintenance and calibration of the radar system gifted by India in 2005 and subsequently upgraded after the Tigers launched their first air raid in the last week of March 2007.

Both technicians are undergoing treatment in a hospital here and are out of danger.

The latest incident came amid an announcement by the U.N. that it was drawing up a plan for withdrawal of its staff working in Wanni after a government advisory to international and national non-governmental agencies to move out of Wanni to ‘safer places.’

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Zardari vows to fight terrorism
South Ossetia, Abkhazia get security cover
Thai PM disqualified
Plan for retrial plea in U.K. terror case
Pitched battle in Sri Lanka
Historic, says Sri Lanka
Nepal President to unveil policies
Bush orders modest Iraq troop cut
Kuwait completes amnesty formalities Gulf Round-up
2 Indians on Man Booker shortlist
KFC shores up security for secret chicken recipe

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu