SRI LANKA: Tamil Tiger rebels attack Galle naval base, leading to at least 16 deaths and triggering looting.

Record ID: 352425

  • Title: SRI LANKA: Tamil Tiger rebels attack Galle naval base, leading to at least 16 deaths and triggering looting.
  • Date: 19th October 2006
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF SHIPS IN THE NAVAL BASE
  • Embargoed: 3rd November 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Sri Lanka
  • Country: Sri Lanka
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3G5EZYWKJE0S3YH5PYF4C96YU
  • Story Text: Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels attacked a naval base in an apparent suicide mission in the southern city of Galle on Wednesday (October 18), leading to at least 16 deaths and triggering brief looting of minority Tamil shops.
    It was the latest in a series of blows to an already battered peace process that have dimmed hopes ahead of planned peace talks between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Geneva on October the 28th and 29th.
    Wednesday's attack on the Dakshina base in Galle came two days after nearly 100 people, mostly navy sailors, were killed in a suicide bombing on a convoy in a north-central district.
    "Five Sea Tiger boats ... disguised as fishing boats arrived to attack the Dakshina naval base," the defence ministry said.
    "The navy destroyed ... three suicide boats and the other two approached the Galle harbour, self-detonating at the entrance," it said in a statement.
    Military officers and the pro-rebel Web site www.tamilnet.com said 15 rebels were on the boats. One navy sailor was killed, and 15 wounded, the military added.
    "First they fired from T-56 automatic weapons. Then our building was hit by a rocket propelled grenade. Our sailors who were on duty fired back. Then I heard three explosions from the direction of the harbour," said Romesh Rajiv, a sailor injured in the attack.
    Smoke billowed from two or three spots on the sea front after the explosions and dozens of residents gathered on a road by the beach as troops took position, witnesses said.
    News of the raid sparked minor looting in Galle, with some Sinhala criminal gangs targeting two shops belonging to the minority Tamil community, residents and police said.
    "When the firing started a mob started to throw stones at shops. No-one from the area was involved. They were all outsiders. They damaged fax machines and the telephones. We did not come out" said shop owner Tharanga Edirisinghe.
    Police opened fire in the air and dispersed the mobs before bringing the situation under control, they said. A curfew was also imposed on the town.
    Elsewhere, at least 20 vehicles being driven by Tamils and minority Muslims were stoned and damaged by Sinhala gangs in the north-central region where Monday's (October 16) suicide attack took place, Tamilnet said. Local police said the report was false.
    Galle is a tourist town about 113 km (70 miles) south of the capital, Colombo, far from the northern and eastern strongholds of the rebels where much of the violence in the Indian Ocean island has been concentrated.
    Wednesday's attack was the first such in the scenic coastal region which is popular with foreign tourists.
    The port at Galle, home to a 17th Century Dutch-built fort which is now a world heritage site, is also one of Sri Lanka's oldest and biggest.
    Galle was badly hit by the 2004 tsunami and has been the focus of reconstruction efforts by many aid groups.
    Few expect the talks to achieve a breakthrough in the face of continued fighting and deep distrust. Hundreds of people have been killed in spiralling violence since late July that shattered a truce brokered in 2002.
    Last week, dozens of troops and rebels were killed and hundreds wounded in one of the deadliest battles since the truce.
    More than 65,000 people have been killed since 1983 when the rebels began fighting for an independent Tamil homeland.
    The LTTE attacks on the military in Sinhala areas was aimed at triggering a backlash against minority Tamils living in the south of the island, defence spokesman and minister Keheliya Rambukwella told a weekly news briefing.
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