Tamil Rebels Target Sri Lanka Ships in Suicide Attack - Bloomberg- 2008/10/22

By Michael Heath and Paul Tighe

Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Tamil Tiger rebels carried out a suicide attack on two Sri Lankan merchant ships bringing aid supplies to the northern Jaffna peninsula today, the Defense Ministry said.

The Ruhuna and Nimalawa were targeted by three Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam vessels at 5:10 a.m., the ministry said in a statement. Sailors opened fire on the boats, destroying two and capturing one, according to navy spokesman DKP Dassanayke. The LTTE hasn't commented on the attack.

One of the explosives-laden boats blew up, causing ``considerable damage'' to the hull of the Nimalawa, Dassanayke said. The Nimalawa is sinking and the Ruhuna was damaged after being rammed by rebel craft, Agence France-Presse reported.

Jaffna has to be supplied by sea and air because the main highway linking it to the south has been closed by fighting. The army is trying to destroy the LTTE's last bases in the north and end the group's 25-year battle for a separate Tamil homeland in the South Asian island.

Soldiers are now within 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) of the LTTE's headquarters in the northern town of Kilinochchi.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday he told India that the army's advance on Kilinochchi will continue, after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week raised concern over civilians caught in the fighting.

The government will carry out its responsibilities to protect civilians ``to the fullest, especially with regard to the people who are temporarily displaced in the north due to the ongoing military operations to defeat terrorism,'' Rajapaksa said, according to a statement.

Civilians Displaced

More than 230,000 civilians have been displaced by the fighting in recent months, according to Tamil aid officials. The number of people has been inflated, Rajapaksa said, adding there are about 150,000 civilians affected by operations in the northern Wanni region where Kilinochchi lies.

``We continue to supply food, even to the LTTE, because our responsibility is to the civilians, the farmers and the rural producers of the region who are trapped by the LTTE,'' Rajapaksa said, according to the statement.

Ties with India haven't been affected by Singh's comments, Rajapaksa said. The Indian prime minister called for a ``negotiated political settlement'' to the conflict.

Tamil lawmakers in India's southern state of Tamil Nadu said last week they will resign from the national Parliament within two weeks unless Singh's government presses Sri Lanka to stop the offensive against the LTTE that is harming civilians.

``There is a wrong impression created in Tamil Nadu'' that civilians aren't being assisted in the north, Rajapaksa said. The president said he is aware of the political pressures facing the government in India.

While India will do everything to protect the rights and humanitarian conditions of Tamils in Sri Lanka, it won't help the LTTE, the Press Trust of India cited an unidentified government official as saying yesterday. There is a clear distinction between Tamils and the LTTE, which is a terrorist organization, the official said while traveling on a flight to Japan with Singh.

To contact the reporters on this story: Michael Heath in Sydney at mheath1@bloomberg.net; Paul Tighe in Sydney at ptighe@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: October 21, 2008 22:44 EDT


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