Monthly Archives: March 2007
Tamil Tigers are still smuggling war material
By Walter Jayawardhana
5.8 MILLION STEEL BALLS IN MANNAR SRI LANKA AND 1950 DETONATORS IN TAMIL NADU INDICATE TAMIL TIGERS ARE STILL SMUGGLING WAR MATERIAL
The discovery of 1950 detonators in Tamil Nadu, India and 5.8 million India made steel balls in Mannar, Sri Lanka on two consecutive days of March 28 and 29 indicate the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is still active in smuggling in war like material for the terrorist activities in the island nation.
Police reports in the Q Branch of the Tamil Nadu Police said 1950 electrical detonators were discovered buried in sand in sacks at Uchipuli in the coastal district of Rameswaram, in Tamil Nadu, South India, March 28.
Security forces personnel on duty at a road block at Pulleady Erakkam on the Madawachchiya – Mannar main road apprehended a lorry which was carrying 15.2 million steel balls in 650 sacks s and pharmaceutical items suspected to be smuggled from India to the LTTE yesterday, Thursday the 29th of March.
Despite Police vigilance in Tamil Nadu and claims of continued Navy surveillance both by India and Sri Lanka the LTTE continues to bring in bomb making materials from India, the source of the insurgent outfits’ main supply station these days.
The Sri lanka Army said that a driver and his assistant transoporting 650 boxes of metal balls, 38 bandage roles, 810 saline bottles, 50 sodium chloride packets, 52 plaster roles, 40 knee guards and 80 injection syringes were taken into custody Thursday (29) by the troops at a roadblock in Pulleady Erakkam, in a lorry proceeding towards Mannar from the Eastern town of Batticaloa.
The driver of the lorry Subramanium Raveendran and his subordinate Gopal Panneer Selwam were also arrested by the Police Murunkan the Ministry of Defense sources said.
Both suspects are residents of Thanndikulam in Vavuniya the lorry belongs to a person in Vavuniya, Police sources further said.
Police said over 15.2 Million steel balls, 850 saline bottles, 25 Acid barrels (20L each), 06 Iron acid barrels (35L each), 90 Sugar bags (50Kg each), 10 dhal bags (25Kg each), 42 roles of Barbed wire and other pharmaceutical items were inside the lorry which was apprehended last evening.
Meanwhile the Q Branch thinks the 1950 electrical detonators found buried in the coconut grove was also meant to be to be smuggled out to the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka.
Many have been arrested in this connection.
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A guide to the Super Eights stage
The Super Eights stage of the World Cup is now with us and there is some uncertainty as to how it works. So, in an attempt to unmuddy the waters, here is a short guide …
In the Super Eights round, every team plays six matches, against every other team except the side they played in the group stage.
The only points carried into the Super Eights are the two gained from beating the other side that qualified from a team’s group. So, the four group winners – Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and West Indies – begin with two points from the victory over the second-placed side in their group. In the six remaining matches, there are two points for a win, one for a tie or a no-result.
The venues for the teams are not based on where they finished in the group stages. They are pre-agreed. This has been done to ensure that those travelling to the World Cup know in advance where their teams will be based. Because the tournament is now, in effect, an eight-team league with everyone playing everyone, the original seedings are no longer relevant. More…
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LTTE’s toy submarines and coordinated patrolling with SL Navy
By Walter Jayawardhana
INDIAN NAVY OFFICER TALKS ABOUT LTTE’S TOY SUBMARINES AND CORDINATED PATROLS WITH SRI LANKA NAVY
Assistant Chief of Indian Naval Staff Rear Admiral Pradeep Chauhan called the reported submarines of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as ’toy submarines’ and dismissed the suggestion that they could do any harm to the Indian Navy.
When reporters asked him whether there was any threat from those LTTE submersible vehicles he totally rejected any underwater threat from the Sri Lankan terrorist group and referring to the terrorist groups’ reported attempt to make a submarine said, “You cannot develop submarines from do it yourself manuals.”
He was obviously referring to the LTTE supporters trying to buy submarine manufacturing software last year in the United States before they got caught in a sting operation. During the sting operation perhaps the most intriguing item sought was advanced submarine design software. The LTTE has always had a strong penchant for seafaring activities. Submarines would allow them to expand their smuggling efforts and be a new mode of terror attack, it has been visualized, reportedly.
The Tamil Tiger midget submarines have been described as just slightly submersible only few feet under the surface of the water and extremely slow moving. The senior Naval official did not show any sort of respect for the kind of submersible crude vehicles the LTTE was manufacturing and are called “midget submarines.” He said, “With toy subs you can go for a kilometre and see coral reefs. Nothing else is possible unless they are going to war with sea urchins.”
Rear Admiral Chauhan said the Indian navy couls easily frustrate any LTTE attempt to attack its ships. But the LTTE’s attempt is not to employ the crude submarines as attack vehicles but to use them as vehicles to transport weapons and narcotics drugs without being seen by any watchful eyes in the sea.
At a press briefing in New Delhi Chauhan also mentioned about the kind of patrols the Indian Navy is going to do with the Sri lankan Navy and said they are not going to be joint patrols but coordinated patrols. In this kind of patroling both navies will patrol in their own waters but will cordinate and communicate each other regarding informations. But they would not be patroling together, he said. But in the Indian waters the Indian navy would do joint patrolling with the Indian Coast Guard, Chauhan said.
Such coordinated patrolling has been necessitated by the constant and illegal smuggling activities conducted by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam of weapons, warlike material and drugs during the last many months.
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LTTE mortar fire kills 8 and injures 18 civilians in two villages
By Walter Jayawardhana
EIGHT CIVILIANS WERE KILLED AND EIGHTEEN OTHER CIVILIANS INJURED BY LTTE MORTAR FIRE FROM THOPPIGALA
In an obvious attempt to create panic and confusion and make civilian run leaving their settlements Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) targeted two villages in the Eastern Province and killed eight people including two young children and injuring 18 other civilians the Sri Lanka Army sources said.
The civilians were killed in Morakottanchena and Karadiyanaru villages during the night of of March 29 by mortar fire allegedly originating from the LTTE positions in Thoppigala area.
“They have fired at two villages. Only in the morning we have entered the area and we found eight people killed, including a 1-1/2-year-old and 7-year-old, both of them girls,” said military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe.
After the Tamil Tigers were evicted from about 230 square mile area in recent months some of them have regrouped in the jungle strip of Thoppigala East of the Batticaloa town and creating the mayhem, Samarasinghe said.
In retaliation the Sri Lanka security forces have surrounded the Thoppigala area to choke the Tamil Tigers of supplies and preventing them from leaving or entering the area.
The mortar fire that started about 7.30 p.m. on March 29 also hit Sittandi and Sandiliveli villages. The villagers told the army that they were just getting ready to sleep after supper when mortar shells started hitting their houses.
The Sri lanka Army said they have already informed about the attack on the civilians by the LTTE to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission.
The Sri Lanka Army sources said closeby army detachments have transported 18 civilians who were injured by the alleged mortar fire by the LTTE.
Among the injured were three little children including an infant of 18 months. All are undergoing treatment at the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital.
Earlier the alleged LTTE mortar fire was directed to Padawiya and Ethavetunu Wewa villages.
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“India can learn from us,” says Sangakkara
Sri Lanka wicketkeeper Kumara Sangakkara has told India they can learn a lot about cricket, life and happiness from their island’s neighbours.
Sri Lanka beat India on their way to the World Cup second round Super Eights.
India, meanwhile, crashed out and went home to face the unrelenting fury of fans let down by a team many considered to be potential World Cup winners in the Caribbean.
“I feel sorry for India’s cricketers,” said Sangakkara.
“They’ll now face a torrent of criticism and abuse in the coming weeks. Fanatical fans will no doubt be burning effigies. The huge expectation places their players under enormous pressure. And when that expectation is raised a degree or two, it can easily have a crippling effect.
“In Sri Lanka, the public seems to have a more easy-going perspective. Most Sri Lankans are passionate about sport, especially cricket, but we also seem to understand that sport is sport.
“I am not sure whether that more balanced attitude is the product of two decades of civil war, or merely reflects the more happy-go-lucky style of an island nation.
“The attitude of our fans makes it easier for us. We still get our fair share of criticism. But our houses are not stoned when we lose and we can still walk down the street without fearing for our safety. I’m grateful for this and really don’t envy the situation of India and Pakistan’s top cricketers.”
Sangakkara admitted that the World Cup felt strange without India and Pakistan.
India also lost to Bangladesh in their group games while Pakistan suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of part-timers Ireland. They also lost to the West Indies.
“It leaves the tournament with a strange emptiness,” Sangakkara wrote in his http://www.cricinfo.com column.
“India’s unbelievable passion for the game always ensures an occasion whenever they take the field. One billion fans and a clutch of high-paying sponsors are naturally bitterly disappointed.”
Sangakkara believes that the pressure on India contributed to the demise of Rahul Dravid’s team who succumbed to a 69-run defeat to Sri Lanka in Trinidad, which confirmed their early exit.
“There was no doubt in our minds that we would win the game. We were completely focused,” said Sangakkara.
“The same cannot be said about India’s players. I thought our body language told the story. We were up for it, positive and very upbeat. India’s players looked under pressure and their body language betrayed their edginess.”
Source:The News
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