The Sea Tigers of Tamil Eelam

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BANGALORE - An attack-sea-craft manufacturing facility of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was destroyed recently when Sri Lankan air force planes bombed a boatyard in Tiger-held territory. The Sri Lankan Defense Ministry has said that 30-40 of the boats were destroyed in the attack. The pro-LTTE Tamilnet website rejected the claim, arguing that the planes had hit a
civilian boatyard.

The attack on the boatyard comes amid fierce fighting, which has claimed more than 800 lives since August 11 when the Tigers launched a major offensive to retake control of the Tamil-dominated but government-held Jaffna Peninsula in the north. The attack was aimed at denting an important but little understood aspect of the organization's military infrastructure - sea power. The two sides have sparred on the seas several times over almost three decades.

In January, the Tigers blew up a Sri Lankan navy gunboat outside Trincomalee harbor. In May, it targeted a naval convoy comprising a troop-carrier vessel, which was ferrying more than 700 unarmed security forces personnel returning after home leave, and its accompanying naval fast attack craft. While the LTTE's flotilla of explosive-laden boats failed to damage the troop carrier, it was able to destroy two gunboats, killing at least 17 sailors.

More recently, the Tigers targeted another vessel carrying 854 unarmed soldiers to Trincomalee and simultaneously attacked the naval base there.

Asia Times

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1. Sri Lanka says sinks 12 Tiger boats, rebels scoff

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's navy said on Saturday it sank 12 Tamil Tiger craft in a pre-dawn naval battle off the island's northern tip, killing dozens of guerrillas including suicide fighters, but the rebels dismissed the claim.

The clash at sea near the besieged army-held Jaffna peninsula comes amid five weeks of intense fighting after four years of ceasefire, and as the army seeks to wrest control of rebel territory near a strategic port in the island's northeast.

"It was a major attack. There were 20 rebel boats. We were able to destroy 12 LTTE craft, including five LTTE suicide boats," a military spokesman told Reuters. "They were humiliated in their so-called seas and withdrew."

Reuters