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| Sri Lanka | |
| Lankan navy sinks rebel boats, foil port attack | |
| 2007-01-28 | |
| COLOMBO - Sri Lanka’s navy attacked and destroyed three Tamil Tiger boats on Saturday as the rebels launched their first assault on the port of Colombo in 10 years, the defence ministry said. Naval craft blew up one boat after the three were spotted near a restricted zone before chasing and sinking the other two, leaving an unknown number of casualties, the ministry said. ‘Navy foils an LTTE (Tamil Tiger) attack at Colombo harbour, one LTTE boat destroyed at 5:30 am,’ the defence ministry said in an initial statement on its website, before later reporting the other two boats had also been sunk. Work at the Colombo port was briefly disrupted by the attack but was soon back to normal, officials said. ‘This proves again the Port of Colombo is one of the safest ports in the world,’ Ports Minister Mangala Samaraweera said during a visit to the site.
Residents reported hearing gunfire near the port’s high-security zone at the time of the attack. The military said they arrested three people from one boat while the fate of others aboard the remaining craft was unknown. ‘The detection was initially made by the land sentries manning the southern perimeters of the Colombo harbour High Security Zone’, who informed the naval craft at sea, the ministry statement said. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 I was lucky enough (sarc) to visit Columbo during the ACDU days. As phuqued up as it was, I cannot help but believe an attack would only improve it. If I were the Rebels, I woud look for a real port, one of some significance. (If OTOH, Columbo IS a significant port, Sri Lanka is really the end of the world.) |
| Posted by: USN, ret. 2007-01-28 20:08 |