Tiger frogmen stole SLA boats

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A motorboat used by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) at Sathurukkondan camp, 4 km north of Batticaloa, was removed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at around 11:00 p.m. Wednesday night, as it lay moored behind the SLA camp, said sources in Valaichenai.

At the same time the LTTE placed an explosive device in another boat that was moored alongside the boat that was taken, they said.

The SLA had discovered their loss only in the morning around 9:00 a.m., said sources.

SLA personnel had also spotted the bomb that was placed in the other boat. The bomb was defused later.

The Sathurukkondan SLA camp spans an area between the Batticaloa-Valaichenai road and the lagoon. On the other side of the lagoon is the LTTE controlled area.

It is believed that the operation was conducted by frogmen who had swum across the lagoon from the area under LTTE control, said sources.

The SLA, embarressed that the operation was conducted under its very nose in an area that was under military control, was trying to suppress information about the removal of the boat, said sources.

Earlier information released by military sources said that the boats belonged to the SLN.