NAVY DEFEATS EFFORT TO SINK PASSENGER LINER
WITH 854 ARMY PERSONNEL; ARTILLERY SHELL ATTACK FROM SAMPUR KILLS 4 IN NAVAL HEADQUARTERS
(By Walter Jayawardhana)
Los Angeles:- The Sri Lanka Navy successfully defeated a major sea attack using suicide boats by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to sink an unarmed passenger liner carrying 854 army personnel.
No harm has been done to the Dora craft that was guarding the passenger liner as reported in the LTTE media, navy sources said.
The passenger liner, “Jet Liner” was transporting 854 army personnel who were coming to Trincomalee from Kankesenturai on leave when the LTTE Sea Tiger suicide craft tried to sink the ship with the army personnel, navy spokesman D.K.P. Dissanayaka said.
He said in the retaliatory fire three Sea Tiger boats were sunk with their personnel
The LTTE simultaneously fired artillery shells from their camp at Sampoor into the naval headquarters, killing 4 navy sailors.
“A cluster of LTTE suicide crafts operated by the terrorists has been confronted by the elite Naval sea units at the harbor entrance of Trincomalee. Reports confirm that at least 03 LTTE suicide vessels to be destroyed during the retaliatory attack by the SLN crafts,” Sri Lanka Defense Ministry said.
The Sri Lanka Air Force bombed Sea Tiger craft and the some were reported to have caught fire, close to Pulmudai. Tension prevailed in the Trincomalee town due to the artillery shells bursting and smoke clouds rosing up in the sky. The Trincomalee town was in a pandemonium.
The navy said the attempted attack on the Jet Liner occurred while it was coming from Kankesenturai to Trincomalee whilst it was entering the harbor at SAMPOOR area today around 2.20 p.m., August 1. The passenger ‘Jet Liner’ was escorted by few Dora craft
The navy said it retaliated swiftly with reinforcements completely destroying three of tiger craft and damaging three others and killing many of cadres on board.
The Passenger Craft escaped unhurt according to the Navy. However as the tigers continued firing Mortars and Artillery in the area around the Harbor, air force and army also was called in to action to neutralize the tiger guns at Sampoor area. Due to the indiscriminate firing of mortars by the tigers, Navy had suffered four deaths the navy said.
Tigers failed in a similar type of attack when they targeted the passenger vessel Pearl Cruise that carried 710 unarmed security force personnel on 11th May 2006. “Failing for the second time,” the navy said, “terrorists later fired mortar and artillery towards the naval base.”
