2ND LEAD

Tigers attack Sri Lanka Navy installations in Delft

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 May 2007, 04:52 GMT]
Commando marines of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) naval wing, the Sea Tigers, launched a pre-dawn attack Thursday on Delft islet off Jaffna coast inflicting heavy losses to the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN), Military Spokesman of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE), Irasiah Ilanthirayan told media. At least 30 SLN sailors were killed, a Dvora Fast Attack Craft was destroyed and two other SLN vessels sustained damages in the operation that lasted for 2 hours, according to the Tiger spokesman. Recently, the Northern Naval Area Command of the SLN has been strengthening the naval presence by establishing a commanding office in Delft.



The Tiger commandos stormed the southern part of the islet with a High Security Zone fortification of the SLN, around 12:45 a.m., completed their "surprise mission" in two hours and returned to their base with weapons seized from the SLN, Mr. Ilanthirayan said.

Four Sea Tigers were killed in action.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Navy officials in Colombo have claimed that they had successfully repulsed the LTTE attack. The Tigers had come in a floatilla of 12 boats and 06 Black Tiger boats, Sri Lankan naval sources told media.

Delft (Neduntheevu) is the farthest and biggest of the inhabited islands off the Jaffna peninsula and the nearest of the inhabited islands of Jaffna from Rameswaram. The name Delft was given by the Dutch when they named the islets of Jaffna, after place names in Holland.





Chronology:


External Links:

TW:		Tigers Launch Pre-Dawn Amphibious Assault in Delft
SAAG:		Why LTTE Attacked DELFT Naval Base?