Tamil Tigers prepare to fly in arms

by admin
Nov 25, 2008

The Tamil Tigers are likely building up their capacity for receiving weapons shipments with two long airstrips to receive large cargo planes, respected defence analysis group Jane's said on Tuesday, November 18.

 

Based on analysis of high-resolution, commercially-available satellite imagery, the London-based group said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had constructed two one-kilometre (0.6-mile) paved runways between 2002 and 2007.

 

Jane's said that one of those runways was being extended to two kilometres.

 

"While the imagery does not confirm the airstrips are in use, the investment of significant resources suggests the LTTE has developed facilities that can serve air logistics needs at a critical time in its three-decade war with the Sri Lankan state," said Christian LeMiere, editor of Jane's Intelligence Review.

 

"Jane's can also confirm that the LTTE has made at least one attempt to arrange for a consignment of artillery rounds to be flown in."

 

According to the defence group that particular shipment remained stranded in an unidentified Central Asian country because Russia had intervened to prevent its delivery.

 

Jane’s further added that there was no evidence of the airstrip being used by the Tamil Tigers to launch any attacks.

Add new comment

About text formats

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Global and entity tokens are replaced with their values. Browse available tokens.

Restricted HTML

  • You can align images (data-align="center"), but also videos, blockquotes, and so on.
  • You can caption images (data-caption="Text"), but also videos, blockquotes, and so on.
  • Global and entity tokens are replaced with their values. Browse available tokens.
  • You can embed media items (using the <drupal-media> tag).

We need your support

Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.

Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view

We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.

link button