“There was a time when some overestimated the power of the Sea Tigers, but now we know they have no such power at all; our Navy has successfully countered the Sea Tiger power,” Mr. Rajapaksa said.
He was addressing a ceremony at the Welisara Naval base, to mark the completion of the 100th‘Arrow’ type gunboat for the Navy’s newly formed Rapid Action Boat Squadron (RABS).
“The Navy had completely damaged the arms-supplying network of the LTTE, by destroying a floating arms ship on the high seas,” he said, adding : “It was a severe setback for the LTTE”.
Speaking further, Mr. Rajapaksa said the Navy had reached its highest level through several important victories over the past few years: “The Navy under the leadership of Vice Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda, has now become a different force, by changing its tactics and strategies.”
The Navy has so far built 100 special boats for the RABS within a short period, at very low cost, at the Welisara Inshore Patrol Vessel Construction Yard. Started in 2006, under the ‘Arrow’ concept, the new RABS unit, which is functioning as a separate squadron, has been able to cause heavy damage to the Sea Tigers.
At the occasion, 20 naval personnel, including several officers, who were involved in making the new boats, received certificates from the Defence Secretary. Navy Commander Karannagoda and other senior Naval officers also took part in the event.(SJ)
Air Force UAV makes forced landing
An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) of the Air force had to make a forced landing at the Air Force base in Anuradhapura yesterday morning following a technical fault, the air force said.
“Soon after the UAV was airborne from the air force base, we had to make a forced landing due to some technical error,” air force spokesman Janaka Nanayakkara said.
He said it landed safely and the fault would be repaired soon by the technicians. The Air Force has a number of Chinese made UAVs, which were mostly operating to gather ground intelligence of the LTTE-held areas.
Seven bodies found in Moneragala jungle
The bodies of seven farmers with gunshot and cut injuries were found in a jungle in Kotiyagala in Siyambalagamuwa, Moneragala, yesterday, police said.
Defence Ministry sources, quoting the police, said that civilians in Thahanattakanda in Bintenna had found seven male bodies with gunshot and cut injuries last afternoon and informed the police.
The ministry blamed the LTTE for the killings.
The source said the police, during their investigations, had found four bodies lying on a tractor trailer with wounds caused by bullets fired from a T-56 riffle and another three bodies on the tractor itself with pistol wounds.
“Three of those civilians had been shot with pistols near the tractor they were using for cultivation work. The other four civilians had been shot with T-56 rifles from 500metres away,” it said.
“Police suspect that a group of LTTE terrorists infiltrated into the jungle and carried out the massacre during the morning hours,” the source said.
These bodies were noticed when a group of villagers went to the jungle last morning. They had immediately informed the police. Later a special police team with Special Task Force personnel went to the scene, police said.
Police and troops are making arrangements with regard to judicial inquiries and other formalities.
Following the recovery of the bodies, a massive search operation was launched in the area.
Meanwhile, the three persons who were abducted last week by an unidentified armed gang, while collecting honey in the jungle off Alavai in Pottuvil, had not returned yet, police said.
The security forces had launched a search operation in the area to trace the three men, after a complaint was lodged with the Pottuvil police on Tuesday, by a person who was with the victims and avoided abduction.
Source
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