India concerned over LTTE air attack

"Attack displays capability the rebels so far did not possess" :

Special correspondent

NEW DELHI: India is seriously concerned by the audacious air attack mounted by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka on Monday, official sources said even as the External Affairs Ministry remained silent. According to the sources, the attack showed that the Tigers had the ability to take their military prowess to a new level. It displayed a capability the LTTE so far did not possess, they added.

No official reaction

The Government of India, officially, however, chose not to react to the incident, which had demonstrated that the LTTE was now in a position to operate some aircraft and create more mayhem. Describing the attack as a "major development," S.D. Muni, an analyst who focuses on Sri Lanka, told this correspondent that the incident, however, did not come as a complete surprise as the Tigers' air capability had been referred to in the past as well.

Dr. Muni believed that the attack did not reflect the "strength" of the LTTE's air wing, but displayed the fact that the Tigers were in a position to wreak damage through air-borne operations as well.

Another expert said this indicated that the Sri Lankan Air Force operations against the LTTE had been very effective. According to him, the LTTE had risked a lot to mount such an operation.

P. Jayaram, a journalist who reported from Colombo for many years, said the LTTE had once again been able to surprise the Sri Lankan military. While the military had been claiming it was winning the war, the Tigers were able to strike at a military base close to the Katunayake airport. Jayaram conceded that LTTE chief Velupillai Prabakaran was under pressure after the Tigers had been forced to close down its military bases in eastern Sri Lanka. "Prabakaran was under tremendous pressure to do something spectacular. And he did."

(The Hindu)