SRI LANKA: TIGERS STAGE A RAID DEEP IN THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 001425 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS MCC FOR D NASSIRY AND E BURKE E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/13/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM MOPS CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: TIGERS STAGE A RAID DEEP IN THE SINHALESE SOUTH Classified By: Ambassador Robert O Blake, for reasons 1.4(b,d). ¶1. (SBU) On October 15, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) attacked a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) base in Yala National Sanctuary, located deep in the predominantly Sinhalese portion of the South. Tamilnet, a pro-LTTE web site, reported that Tigers took a cache of weapons and set the camp ablaze. The Tigers claimed to have killed six SLA soldiers and controlled the camp for approximately three hours before voluntarily retreating. SLA military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, however, says the Army repelled the attack, killing at least seven Tiger cadres. Nanayakkara said that the military intercepted a Tiger communication relaying that more than 20 LTTE cadres had been killed in the raid. He confirmed, however, that six SLA soldiers had been killed in the "ambush," and said that one soldier was wounded. Nanayakkara made no mention of whether the LTTE ever controlled the "outpost" or recovered any weapons in the raid. The following morning, a tractor driven by SLA soldiers in Thalgasmankada near Yala was destroyed when it hit a pressure mine while carrying SLA dead bodies collected from the previous day's fight. Nanayakkara reported that one soldier was killed by the mine and three others were injured. ¶3. (C) Intense fighting has raged in several other hot-spots in the North, including Vavuniya, Mannar and at the base of the Jaffna peninsula, close to the Forward Defense Line (FDL) which separates the SLA from Tiger-controlled territory. Fighting began on October 14 shortly after UN High Commissioner for Refugees Louise Arbour left Jaffna. Both the SLA and the LTTE have categorized the fighting as defensive and both have likely exaggerated their opponent's losses while minimizing their own. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: All indications are that the LTTE continues to suffer significant setbacks resulting from the current fighting in the North. However, the LTTE's strike on a target deep in the heart of Sinhalese territory and far away from their own home base serves as a reminder that the LTTE can and does continue to operate throughout the country. The Tiger's return to the use of land mines, the first such incident reported in more than a year, is also deeply troubling. BLAKE