Ban Ki Moon disturbed by the air attack

By Walter Jayawardhana

SECRETARY GENERAL BAN KI MOON SAYS HE IS DISTURBED BY THE AIR ATTACK OF THE TAMIL TIGERS

The Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki Moon said he was disturbed by the air attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

He said the parties should return to the negotiating table as soon as possible, without preconditions.

The following is the full statement of the Secretary General:

“The Secretary-General is disturbed by the extensive and escalating violations of the cease-fire in Sri Lanka, which now includes an air attack this week by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

He deeply regrets that air raids, military confrontations on the ground, and suicide bombings have become a daily occurrence, prompting massive displacement and suffering for civilians.

The Secretary-General appeals to the parties to the conflict to break this vicious cycle of attack and retaliation, which only leads to more bloodshed and victims. He urges them to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible, without preconditions.”

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Kadirgamar said aircraft in LTTE hands could become tools of suicide terrorism

By Walter Jayawardhana

SRI LANKAN ENVOY IN WASHINGTON REMINDS KADIRGAMAR VISION THAT AIRCRAFTS IN THE HANDS OF LTTE COULD BECOME TOOLS OF SUICIDE TERRORISM

The assassinated Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Luxman Kadirgamar when he met Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Deputy National Security Advisor J. H. Crouch voiced his concern that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) might use aircraft for suicide terrorism said the Sri Lankan envoy in Washington DC in a press briefing issued on the aerial attack on theKatunayaka Air Force base.

The Sri Lankan ambassador Bernard Goonetileke said, “When the late Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar paid his last visit to the US in June 2005, the LTTE’s construction of an air field and its acquisition of air capability were discussed as matters of serious concern with Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice and Deputy National Security Advisor, Dr. J.H. Crouch.Mr. Kadirgamar voiced concern that given the LTTE’s past record, there was a real possibility of aircrafts being used for suicide operations.”

Bernard Goonetileke said according to Kadirgamar, the threat of the terrorists obtaining air power justified Sri Lanka’s attempt to strengthen its air defense.“The Minister said,” the ambassador pointed out, “that this development was forcing Sri Lanka to strengthen its air defense capability. He explained how air capability in the hands of a terrorist organization could become a potential threat to civil aviation and to the commercial shipping activity and urged the international community to persuade the LTTE to dismantle its air capability in a verifiable manner.”

The ambassador said the attack came following a series of defeats suffered by the terrorist group. “This attack came in the aftermath of major defeats suffered by Tamil Tigers in the east at the hands of the security forces and devastating losses within three weeks, of three ships that were sunk by the Sri Lanka Navy along with arms and ammunition and other military hardware they were carrying for the Tamil Tigers. Although the attack failed to achieve its objective of destroying aircraft at the base, three Air Force personnel died and 16 others suffered injuries.”

The ambassador was also obviously trying to damage control by the negligence of the state media authorities by remaining silent for more than six hours without issuing a communiqué explaining the situation creating doubts in the minds of the foreigners clearly resulting adverse effects for the country and creating room for unhealthy speculations against the country. He said, “Following the attack, the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), which is in the vicinity of the air base, was closed for approximately two hours, purely as a precautionary measure, and flights were diverted to Thiruvandapuram, to Chennai and to Male. The Sri Lanka Tourist Board rose to the occasion to ensure that inbound and outbound tourists were provided maximum possible assistance, resulting in minimum inconvenience to them.The BIA is currently fully operational and all incoming and outgoing flights are on schedule.”

Goonetileke who was working as the head of the Peace Secretariat before becoming the ambassador in Washington reminded that the LTTE’s capability of air power was built in clear violation of the Ceasefire Agreement they signed. He said, “ It is most appropriate to note the warning of the Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Mr. Hagrup Haukland, in May 2005, when he said that the Tamil Tiger “air assets” threatened Sri Lanka’s domestic security and violated international laws. “It is a tricky one and a serious violation. It threatens not only domestic security, but India has also expressed concern,” Mr. Haukland said at the time. He also said that he had seen the LTTE airstrip in Kilinochchi from a helicopter on March 4, 2004 — a day after the rebellion by the LTTE’s former eastern regional commander, V. Muralitharanalso known as “Col. Karuna.” He added that the LTTE had “denied access” to the SLMM to inspect the airstrip, which he termed as “a ceasefire violation.”

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Six killed eight injured in suicide tractor attack in the east

By Walter Jayawardhana

SIX PEOPLE KILLED AND EIGHT OTHERS INJURED IN SUSPECTED LTTE SUICIDE TRACTOR ATTACK AGAINST ARMY CAMP

Six people including two soldiers were killed and eight others were seriously injured when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) crashed a high explosives laden tractor against a barrier leading to the Sri Lanka Army’s main base in the Eastern town of Chenkaladi near Batticaloa.

Four army personnel and two police personnel were injured and admitted to the hospital

The Army base at Chenkaladi is the main base operating against the separatist insurgents in the Eastern Province where the LTTE is pushed out of many places in the province.

Several vehicles were engaged in evacuating the injured from the suicide tractor attack scene to the Teaching Hospital of Batticaloa.

Army sources said the suicide attack occurred march 27 at 6.45 a.m.

The same sources said that simultaneously the LTTE were directing artillery attacks from Mavidavembu, about eight kilometers North from the center of attack. The army while evacuating the injured was engaged in retaliatory fire.

Army sources said the tractor and the trailer were heavily packed with high explosives and killed the suspected suicide attacker.

The suicide attack came six days after the Chenkaladi camp resisted a heavy artillery attack from the LTTE base.

The attack last week happened together with three other military camps in the coastal Batticaloa district leaving a total of four soldiers dead and 30 wounded, according to the military.

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Thanks to Ranil, the world’s first terrorist air force is born

By Walter Jayawardhana

THANKS TO RANIL WICKREMESINGHE AND THE NORWEGIAN MONITORING MISSION THEY LET THE LTTE BUILD THE WORLD’S FIRST TERRORIST AIR FORCE

This undated picture released by Tamil Tiger rebels 26 March 2007 shows two unidentified Tiger rebels flash the "V" sign from their light aircraft somewhere in the rebel-held north of Wanni region

By its air attack on Sri Lanka’s main Air Force Base the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) became the only terrorist group in the world which possesses an Air Force and uses that in its combat operations currently.

The LTTE is the most innovative terrorist group in the world and its technologically advanced suicide jacket is being widely used by almost every terrorist group in the Middle East who practices suicide bombing in attacking its enemies both against civilian and military targets. Middle Eastern practice of suicide boats, like when the USS Cole was attacked was also borrowed from the LTTE. It is most probable that light aircraft could become the most innovative and potential weapon in the hands of the terrorist group.

According to Thamilselvan, the political czar of the Tamil Tigers, two light aircraft were used in this attack although the Sri Lanka military says there was only one aircraft involved. If these aircraft came from the LTTE dominated Wanni, how did they reach Colombo undetected by the radar is another question bothering the investigators. Did the aircraft actually start in Wanni from any airports known to exist there? Or are they extremely small glider like aircraft that started from Colombo and returned to a hide out in Colombo at the dead of the night after accomplishing its murderous task? Killing three airmen and wounding 17 more of them is the major task the Air Tigers were able to achieve except the huge publicity the attack generated. That might encourage some of the Diaspora Tamils in the West, including the ones in Beverley Hills, to donate some more money to the cause of terrorism.

Though the Tamil Tigers are the only terrorist group that uses an Air Force currently it is not the first one that tried to use aircraft. Hezbollah, in the Middle East, with whom the Tamil Tigers are supposed to be maintaining a close relationship has used Iranian supplied Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ( UAV’s) over the Israeli border. It was known that the UAV’s were able to carry 50 kilograms of explosives. The LTTE was caught trying to smuggle in UAV’s in the past including during the month of Septmber in 2003. It is not yet known how many UAV’s they are keeping to be used as terrorist bombs.

When the province of Biafra attempted to secede from Nigeria waging a separatist war , the Biafran separatists attempted to use small airplanes to attack Nigeria. During that ill-fated struggle, a Swedish aviator called Carl Gustaf von Rosen tried to help Biafra with his tiny MFI-9 Swedish trainers. Though they were no match for the Nigerian Migs the tiny aircraft were used to destroy several Nigerian jets while they were still on the ground. Taking a cue from the ill fated Biafran separatist war that’s exactly what the Tamil Tigers were attempting to do. Those tiny aircraft were often hidden in trucks and transported to different places for their attacks. The aircraft also flew too low to be detected by radar and targeted by anti-aircraft guns. It was also found then that small arm fire bullets tended to go straight through their bodies without doing much harm.

At the time of Biafran war the 9/11 idea of flying an aircraft against a building was not thought about and there were no suicide pilots. Being terrorists the LTTE could very well use small airplanes as potential bombs for mass destruction and attack buildings.

B. Raman, who was formerly working for India’s spy agency the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) wrote thus about the birth of the LTTE Air Force: “The reluctance and the failure of the international community to act against the LTTE have serious implications for the so-called war against terrorism. The Sri Lankan Government cannot escape a major share of responsibility for this state of affairs. Its failure to take up the matter with the monitoring mechanism set up by the Security Council after the passage of Resolution 1373 and complain not only against the LTTE, but also against the countries which have been turning a blind eye to the LTTE’s gun-running and the supine attitude of the Norwegian-led monitoring mission towards the LTTE have contributed to the emergence of the world’s first terrorist Air Force.” The government Raman was referring to was the government of former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who turned a blind eye to tons and tons of ship loads not only of weapons but also of light aircraft.

During the period referred to, the LTTE built air strips and gave birth to the world’s first terrorist air force, thanks to United National Party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. That was the period when ultra light aircraft were becoming very inexpensive and UAV’s were becoming more easily and commercially available. Until the present government came to power no body even thought of attacking and destroying the illegally built air strips in the Wanni that were becoming a threat to the South Asian security. No body is sure how many aircraft the LTTE is having. But according to eyewitness reports there are at least two fixed wing light aircraft and two small helicopters they own.

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LTTE a threat to the South Asian region

LTTE with a new threat to the South Asian region SLAF on top moral to face any attack Special investigating committees appointed The LTTE’s first ever air attack on the Katunayake Air Force base in the wee hours of this morning aiming at the MIG27 aircrafts became a utter failure due to the timely taken appropriate action of the Air Force, Government Cabinet Spokesman Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said. Minister added that in the past weeks, few highly responsible people were trying to reveal extremely classified information on MIG27 aircrafts by throwing false allegations against the Government and the Air Force, which eventually would have ended up making the terrorists informed. A five-member committee, headed by the Chief of the Staff of the Air Force Air Vice Marshal P.B. Premachandra, has started investigating in to this attempted air attack by the LTTE. This new committee is also comprised of specialized members of the field. Speaking at the briefing as the previous Minister of Aviation and the Public Representative of the concerned electoral area Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle pointed out that LTTE having air raid facilities is a threat to the whole region and not to the country alone. He highlighted that the regional strong members should take this for serious concern. These information were revealed by the Ministers at the special media briefing held today at the Media Centre for National Security to explain about today’s incident. Minister Yapa added that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is also conducting a separate inquiry in to the scene. Speaking to the Sri Lanka Government official Website Police Spokesman Senior DIG Jayantha Wickramarathne said the Inspector General of Police Victor Perera have given the directives to the Director of CID to carry out a special investigation in to this under the normal law of the country. “The CID will be investigating in to the scene and the killing of the three airmen and injured sixteen other Air Force personnel and a report will be submitted to the courts,” Senior DIG Wickramarathne further explained and stated that this is similarly done for all the killings that happen due to LTTE attacks. While praising the Air Force personnel for making the LTTE attack a failure Minister Fernandopulle said that in 2001 July the LTTE attacked initially at the Air Force base and then the International Airport (BIA) destroying thirteen aircrafts, of both the BIA and the SLAF, but this time they couldn’t destroy any of the air crafts due to the timely defencive action taken by the Air Force personnel. In December 2001 a proposal was forwarded to the Cabinet on shifting the Air Force base to another place on security basis but due to the change of the Government during that period the proposal faded away, Minister Fernandopulle said. Yet with the new incidents, minister said that he hopes to bring forward the proposal to the cabinet. Minister Fernandopulle added that during the past regime, the LTTE strengthened themselves using the Ceasefire Agreement as a reinforcing, recruiting tool. “During this regime, the security forces destroyed number of arms smuggling ships, boats and other vessels that were supplying weapons to the LTTE,” Minister added. Answering to a journalist Air Force Spokesman Group Captain Ajantha Silva said, “We are highly satisfied with the present level of strength of the Air Force. We have not declined in our combatant powers. Hence, we can successfully defend even with this new appearance of the LTTE.”

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