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Attack demonstrates determination, bravery, precision- Intel Expert

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 October 2007, 02:36 GMT]
While former head of India's external intelligence agency, B. Raman, described the Anuradhapura Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Camp attack by the Liberation Tigers as an "act of unbelievable determination, bravery and precision," Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror, in the Friday edition, braved the threat to the media from Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa to desist from glorifying the Tigers, disclosed the battle scenario in detail, surmised that "the base had no contingency plan," and added that "the attack made mockery of Sri Lanka Government's propaganda war."

Outlook: No Crouching Tigers (112kb)

Raman, who is now director of the Institute For Topical Studies in India, described the Tiger attack as a singularly unique feat "which had been preceded by painstaking intelligence collection, planning and rehearsal.

"The commandoes, divided into groups, infiltrated into the air base from two directions and, within 20 minutes, took the security guards by surprise, overwhelmed them, seized their weapons and communication equipment, neutralised a radar and an anti-aircraft gun position and then intimated their headquarters that they were in effective control of the air base," Raman said.

Mirror: Anuradhapura Airbase Attack (109kb)

The Mirror said the attack started Monday 3.20 a.m., and the last LTTE Black Tiger was neutralized at 11:00 a.m., indicating that the Tigers occupied the air-base for more than 7 hours.

The LTTE attack team was "equipped with modified T-56 automatic guns, hand grenades, LAWs (Light Antitank Weapon), Multi-Purpose Machine-Gun (MPMG), Lightweight Machine Guns (LMG), seven satellite phones, knifes," and other equipment, and launched a "‘Commando Style’ operation against a professional force placing the Government in a very embarrassing situation," The Mirror said.

Mirror: Destroyed Aircraft Types (108kb)

The Mirror article pointed out that the electrified net between two layers of perimeter fences was not activated allowing the "Tiger team to easily enter through the fence lines," and SLAF soldiers near the three perimeter bunkers were "most probably asleep," as they did not provide any resistance to moving LTTE cadres.

21 Black Tigers perished in the attack.

Sri Lanka armed forces Tuesday paraded the naked bodies of Tamil Tiger commandos killed during the attack. The military denied any of the bodies were naked, and said the pictures had been doctored.

"They have broken not only the Geneva Convention, but also norms observed by decent militaries all over the world," Tiger military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan said by telephone from the northern rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi, a Reuters report said Tuesday.

External Links:

Outlook:		No Crouching Tigers These
DM:		Anuradhapura Air Base attack: The full story
Reuters:		Rebels slam Sri Lanka for showing naked war dead

Chronology: