Black Sea Tigers Target Navy Base in Galle
October 21st, 2006
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj
In a surprising morning attack the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched an amphibaean assault on the Sri Lanka Naval base “Dhakshina” in the Southern province of Sri Lanka.
The Black sea tiger (kadat karumpuli) attack came on Wednesday Oct 18th in Galle the historic City in the Southern Province. Galle too has become the hub of Southern province tourism and is often compared to the resorts along the French Riviera. In recent times a large number of foreigners have bought residential property in Galle mainly along the sea. Galle known as “Khalee” in Tamil is about 113 km to the South of Colombo.
Apparently the Government had received an intelligence report that Galle was to be attacked by the LTTE. President Mahinda Rajapakse reportedly told members of the cabinet at the weekly meeting that his brother and defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse had obtained this info two days ago. Security had been intensified from Pottuvil to Galle. The intelligence report however said the tiger attack would be in the night so security had been relaxed after 6 00 am
The tigers however struck very much after dawn . Hundreds of fishing craft were returning ashore to the Galle fisheries harbour after night fishing. All boats had licenses and permits that were checked at the marine entry point to the harbour. A flotilla of seven tiger boats masquerading as fishing boats were also moving towards the harbour.15 – 20 LTTE cadres aboard were disguised as fishermen.
[Sea Tigers, Nov 2005]
It was around 7.45 am when one black sea tiger boat drew up fast near the harbour entry point and blew itself up. Four other tiger boats streamed into the harbour premises. Their objective was the Naval base “Dhakshina” adjoined the fisheries harbour premises. LTTE cadres began firing from the boats. Some used RPG’s.
One of the tiger boats went and rammed itself against the old navy vessel “Parakrama Bahu”. The ship was damaged and also caught fire. Two other boats rammed themselves against two waterjets and exploded. Soon the sailors within “Dhakshina” rallied and began fighting back. Some were reportedly half – dressed as they hastily fought back. With four tiger boats blowing themselves up the fifth was destroyed by the navy in a 50 minute firefight.
Tigers from the other two boats also clambered ashore and reportedly fired from the jetty. Their target seemed to be the major armoury housed within “Dhakshina” premises. This armoury was the main storehouse for naval arsenal and ammunition. More importantly war materials supplied by Pakistan were brought directly to Galle by ship and unloaded. An unconfirmed report states that some Pakistani war materials were being unloaded at Galle at the time of attack.
Residents of Galle heard a series of explosions. One explosion seemed to be a powerful one. With the navy destroying the two other boats from which LTTE cadres landed the remaining tigers had after a while run away from the area into the town after discarding weapons an unconfirmed report stated.
According to official reports One naval sailor was killed and 14 injured. One civilian worker died and 12 other civilians were injured. The dead man had died due to shock. Two Inshore patrol craft and one coastal patrol craft were damaged. An old ship was burnt. Officially it was denied that the armoury was damaged in any way though clouds of smoke were going up long after the big explosion and other smaller ones.
Even as Galle residents were in a state of panic a group of looters assembled into a mob and began targeting Tamil businesses and homes. The mob reportedly backed by local members of two racist organizations went first to the pre- dominantly Tamil “Kittangi” area which has many Tamil shops. “Kittangi” or warehouse was built by an Indian Chettiyar during British rule. Most shops here are owned by Tamils of Indian descent.
The mobs also targetted Tamil businesses and homes in Olcott Mawatte and Kaluwella. The mob numbering more than 200 consisted of small groups. The rampage began at about 8. 30 am itself. The mob broke into houses and shops and began looting stuff. They also destroyed goods. The patriotic rabble specifically focused on jewellery shops and stores dealing with electronic goods. Twenty – eight shops and homes were looted while about ten were set ablaze.But the fires caused minimal damage as they were quickly doused.
[Tamil men stand with their children in the largest Hindu temple in Galle, Pic Courtesy of AFP/Lakruwan Wanniarachchi]
Most Tamils were panic stricken and took refuge in the Galle Sivan and Sri Kathiresan temples. Policemen directed by Galle OIC Keerthi Silva however came to the scene quickly and chased away the mobs.Police opened fire on the mobs and injured three. Others fled. If not for prompt Police action there may have been much more looting, arsondestruction and also possible loss of life and limb.
According to some Galle Tamil residents Government minister Piyasena Gamage and opposition MP from the UNP Lionel Premasiri had played a big role in pressing for Police action in dispersing the crowd and protecting Tamil civilian lives and property. Both political leaders had also visited the scenes of violence, consoled Tamil victims and ensured their safety and security.
Officials also announced publicly that people living near the harbour should vacate their homes because of a danger of explosions and possible spread of fire. An unofficial curfew was imposed and people in the town area were asked to remain indoors. Transport along the Galle road was also curtailed for a while.
Soon three sets of rumours began circulating like wildfire. One was that some escaped tigers were in the town. The other was that some LTTE cadres were on Rumassala hill in Galle firing away at the harbour. The third was that a big LTTE ship outside the harbour had got away safely.
The authorities however denied all three “rumours” and claimed that only five tiger boats were involved in the attack and that all of them were destroyed by the navy. It was also denied that LTTE Black tiger suicide squad members had blown themselves or any of the boats were rammed into vessels. The “Official” story was that all LTTE boats were destroyed by the navy alone.
In spite of the denial that no tigers were at Rumassala hill a large number of security personnel were busy combing the area for tigers. Likewise a massive search operation was also conducted in Galle for lurking tigers.
Despite denying that any tigers had escaped into the town at least sixteen Tamils were arrested on suspicion in Galle. Eleven are being quizzed now. The other five were released.
Apart from Tamils a few Muslims and even Sinhalese businesses were attacked by the “patriotic” mob. When Defence Affairs spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwell was asked by the BBC Tamil service about mobs attacking Tamils the cabinet minister denied it at first. When the BBC said that they had direct feedback from the affected victims Rambukwella brushed it aside lightly saying it was only the work of some “mischief – makers”.
Three contingents of Special Task Force personnel from Colombo were rushed to Galle to help establish law and order and also combat tigers. The harbour premises were not open to the public at the time of writing this article and no media persons were able to see for themselves the actual damage caused.
Meanwhile LTTE media outlets were the first to come out with details of the attack and also publish pictures of Galle harbour. This strengthened the belief that some tigers had actually got away alive and also that another LTTE vessel may have left the area after thye operation. It is not known as to how many tigers actually died in the fighting though seven unidentified bodies washed ashore are presumed to be those of the LTTE.Some LTTE bodies are said to be mangled into shreds in the explosions.
By launching attacks on the navy at Habarana and Galle the LTTE had demonstrated that it could reach even outside the North – East even up to the Southern coast. In recent times the navy had been making many claims about destroying LTTE ships and boats. In that sense the tiger attacks apart from their lethal damage were also symbolic. Also tourism in Galle and Habarana could be affected in the long term. Also the LTTE has issued an implicit warning that if the GOSL kept on targeting Tamil civilians Colombo could expect more operations of this type.
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