SLN crafts stage war exercise in Maathakal sea

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 July 2007, 09:15 GMT]
A large number of recently acquired Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) vessels participated in an training exercise Saturday night in Maathakal Sea in Valigaamam North in the vicinity of Kaangkeasanthu'rai (KKS) naval base. The rehearsal commenced at 7:00 p.m. and lasted an hour causing tension in the neighbouring coastal villages.

The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops stationed along the coast as well as Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) helicopters took part in the large scale exercise.

Deafening noise from the artillery barrage reverberated across the peninsula, according to Jaffna residents.

A senior military official from KKS military base said that this exercise was to establish maritime dominance along norther coasts to thwart attempts by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eeelam (LTTE) to land along the coastal areas, and to strengthen the High Security Zone (HSZ) along the coast.

Similar rehearsals have been recently held by SLN in Valveddithu'rai, Tho'ndamaanaaru and KKS.