COLOMBO, Dec 22: Tamil Tiger rebels attacked two Sri Lankan naval craft off the island’s northwestern coast on Thursday, opening fire and capturing three sailors in the most violent incident at sea since a 2002 truce, the navy said.
Sea Tigers hid among a fishing fleet and opened fire on two approaching naval dinghies, capturing three sailors who jumped into the water, naval spokesman Commodore Jayantha Perera said.
“They have come as fishermen and attacked the navy craft,” he said. “In retaliation we have also attacked and we have captured six LTTE cadres. This is the worst incident for the navy since the ceasefire. This is the first time they have fired on us.”
One sailor was wounded and in critical condition, another spokesman said. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) — who control a seventh of Sri Lanka in the north and east and demand an independent Tamil homeland — were unavailable.
The incident took place just off the northwestern district of Mannar, close to a string of islands linking Sri Lanka to India, the navy said. A search operation was under way on land and sea to find the captured sailors, it added.
Sri Lanka’s stock market, made increasingly jumpy by recent attacks on troops in the minority Tamil-dominated north but still hopeful peace talks will happen, fell on the news, finally closing 2.11 per cent lower.
“It’s very worrisome,” said Jehan Perera of the National Peace Council, a non-partisan peace advisory group. “This is another step on the path to a return to war. The risk of a return to war is now greater.”
TRUCE HOLDING: Mounting attacks on troops in government-held areas have been straining the ceasefire to its limit, and many increasingly fear a return to the two-decade war between the government and the rebels in which more than 64,000 people have been killed.
“People are worried but they still think the peace process will be a success,” one stockbroker said. “We think the government will act and do something to calm things down.”
But talks still seem a long way away. Earlier this month, 14 soldiers were killed in claymore mine attacks on the northern Jaffna peninsula — a government enclave hemmed in by rebel lines — in the biggest breaches of the ceasefire to date.
The army said rebels had fired on a troop bus on Thursday, hitting it three times but causing no injuries, while a policeman was injured in a grenade attack and a pro-rebel official in the government buildings’ department was shot dead.
“The Mannar incident is nothing compared to what’s happening in Jaffna. We can’t walk the streets safely,” said ethnic Tamil Sri Kajendran, 30, who lives in Colombo and is visiting family in the town. “If war resumes that would be the end of all of us.”
The rebels deny carrying out any of the recent attacks, but say they will return to war next year if the government does not offer them some way forward in the peace process. —Reuters
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