Navy destroys 04 Sea tiger boats killing 26 sea tiger cadres on board in the seas off Chalai and Mullaithivu
SRI LANKA-During two fierce gun battles that erupted in the seas off Chalai and Mullaithivu, Sri Lanka Navy destroyed four Sea Tiger boats killing twenty- six Sea Tigers on board, around midnight on the 29th and at dawn on the 30th March 2009.
The units of the Navy's elite Boat Squadrons, the SBS and the RABS, based at Chilawatte and Chundikulum, intercepted and engaged two clusters of sea tiger boats with heavy Naval gunfire on two separate occasions. Three sea tiger boats were destroyed in the seas off Chalai around 29th midnight and the other sea tiger boat was destroyed in the seas off Mullaithivu during the wee hours today (30th March).
During the fierce gun battles that ensued, the Navy inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy repulsing their desperate attempts. The LTTE sea tiger boats were desperately attempting to speed off when the Naval personnel targeted them directing heavy Naval fire. As a consequence, all four sea tiger boats were completely destroyed engulfed in a ball of fire.
Monitoring of the enemy transmissions has revealed that several LTTE leaders including Maran have been killed. One sailor sacrificed his life and three Naval personnel including one officer received injuries in the incident.
Sri Lanka Navy exercises maximum precautions when confronting LTTE Sea Tiger movements in order to maintain zero casualties to Tamil civilians who also use the seas to flee into cleared areas. A well-fortified Naval blockade has been put in place to cut off all sea tiger movements in the seas off Nayaru, Mullaithivu, Chalai and Chundikulum. This has forced LTTE sea tigers to make desperate attempts at breaking through the Naval defences even at the expense of heavy cadre and vessel losses.
Courtesy: SL Navy
4:37 AM
