More about that "pirate" attack off Sri Lanka

Following up on this earlier post Pirates Off Sri Lanka, here's a clarifying report "Asylum seekers turn pirates, seize boat, attack crew off Sri Lanka":

The man rescued by Capt Petersen said he believed two colleagues had drowned, though Sri Lankan police said it was possible they were still aboard the Theja.

"He told us he was a fisherman from Sri Lanka and their fishing boat was attacked ... by some people who wanted their boat for emigration to Australia," Capt Petersen said.

"There were six people on this fishing boat. At least four of them were tied up and thrown into the sea.

Worth reading the whole thing.

More here, which has the great quote, ''There was some degree of criminality,'' he said.

It is also possible this is one of those things where the would-be immigrants were facing attack by the boat crew they thought they had a deal with (not an uncommon thing in history - just ask Vietnamese boat people) and defended themselves with some vigor.

I still don't think we have the full story.

Things must be tough in Sri Lanka to prompt this sort of desperate action.

UPDATE: A nice piece on a portion of the human smuggling racket to Australia from last year at The Telegraph's "The inside story of people smuggling to Australia"

Pirates Off Sri Lanka

Arrow indicates rough area of the attack

Reported as "Sri Lanka Navy brings fishermen injured by pirate attack ashore, three are missing"

Sri Lankan Navy has brought ashore two fishermen who were critically injured in a suspected pirate attack in the deep seas off southeastern coast of Sri Lanka.

At least two Sri Lankan fishermen were critically injured and three others are missing in a suspected pirate attack, the Navy said today.

Five fishermen who set off on fishing in a multi-day trawler from the coast of Kudawella Fisheries Harbor in the deep south on Sunday (14) had been assaulted by a group of ten pirates in a small boat and thrown into the sea, the police spokesman SSP Prishantha Jayakody said.

Two of the fishermen had been rescued by two merchant vessels, MV Lusail and MV Edith Maersk, in the south-eastern deep seas and handed them over to the Navy.

More here in which it is reported that the identity of the attackers is presently unknown (or unreported) but that Somali pirates have attacked Sri Lankan boats in the past.

Maybe, but . . . I await something more definite.

UPDATE: Well these pirates appear to be people who are trying to get to Australia to seek asylum". I doubt this is a good introduction to immigration officials.

Catching Up

Having had a couple of days off, it's time to play "catch up"- let's start with an annoying BBC article BBC News - Somali pirates face hard time in US prison, in which the sympathy is entirely misplaced. Further, the article originally had a completely different title, which Lex captured as "Somali pirates face hell in US prison system." When I first saw the original headline, I wondered if the "hell" they will experience in U.S. prisons is even a vague shadow of the "hell" of a Somali prison or even daily Somali life for that matter. But the article is even more biased than its headline:

Federal prison is a frightening, perilous environment of intrigue, violent gangs, terrible food and severe isolation, even for the most hardened criminal.

For men from a faraway land with little or no English-language skills and no prior familiarity with American culture, it will be especially hard, say lawyers for the men, and experts in psychology and the criminal justice system.
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On Monday, Muhidin Salad Omar and Mahdi Jama Mohamed were sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to their part in the hijacking in February of the yacht S/V Quest, in which pirates shot to death four American yachters as the US Navy sought their release.

On Tuesday, four more men are to be sentenced to automatic life terms in prison following their guilty pleas to piracy counts in the Quest case. More are to be sentenced in the autumn.
***
Language and cultural barriers will make it difficult for the men to form the support groups and informal social networks that lawyers and social workers say are necessary to get by in prison.

"They have all the stressors associated with prison," says Frederic Reamer, a professor of social work at Rhode Island College with extensive experience working in prisons and a member of the Rhode Island state parole board.

"But unlike most inmates, they cannot just go into the dining hall and sit at a table and start conversing with people with whom they have some shared cultural experience. They are likely to be isolated in every imaginable way."

God spare from bleeding heart professors of social work. I figure under some Somali law, we could have simply stoned these guys to death, as it seems to be a favored punishment. Read the part again about how these pirates "shot to death four American yachters."

Isn't it interesting that as the assertions of the world "running out of fossil fuels" continue to be heard that we keep finding more? Here's a report of a possible discovery off Sri Lanka -

While further drilling is required to determine the commerciality of the natural gas discovery, this is the first oil and gas well to be drilled in Sri Lanka in 30 years -- and the first hydrocarbon discovery ever in the country.

Which reminds me that the gas field off Cyprus continues to be a blip in international relations. The Turkish government has deployed a ship to "investigate" the waters off Northern Cyprus, as set out here. Saturn5 from Bosphorus Naval News has a series of posts on the topic, Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. It's all about the gas and oodles of money. The Russians, the French and others are out there playing hard.

Sri Lanka:Terrorist/Pirate "Sea Tigers" Sunk?

The Sri Lankan government and it military have the Tamil Tigers on the ropes, it appears:

The Sri Lankan military gave an ultimatum to Tamil Tiger rebels to surrender or face annihilation in the eight square mile sliver of coast where they were pinned down along with thousands of civilians.

The army, which claims to have killed more than 500 rebels over the weekend, set up loudspeakers on the edge of the “no-fire zone” and broadcast the ultimatum.

“We have given them the truth,” said Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, a military spokesman. “This is the last time they have to come and surrender.”

While the fighting and accusations of brutality on land continue, some are writing of the death of the world's best known terrorist navy. For example, the Asian Tribune's "LTTE’s Era of Sea Piracy Has Ended", which includes a partial recounting of the "Sea Tigers" attacks on merchant and fishing fleets:

Operating the most comprehensive naval networks among the designated foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S., the LTTE’s Sea Tigers were considered, until recently, as "untouchable" pirates who feared no nation. They were one of the leading pirates in the world, though little known, because of their unfortunate targets were often Malaysian, Jordanian, Philippine, Maldivian Chinese and Sri Lankan ships and the crew often disappeared.
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Indian Ocean is a hunting ground for two of the world’s notorious sea criminals: LTTE and Somali pirates. Both these groups are operating in lawless, semi-autonomous pieces of land conducive to their unlawful acts. However, Somali pirates usually take crew members hostage to obtain ransom, but the LTTE, more interested in the goods—to feed its cadres—and the ship—to use for smuggling— than ransom, often got rid of them to cover up its trails.

On May 23, 1997, Greek registered freighter "Stillus Limassul" left Mozambique port of Beria for Sri Lanka carrying 32,400 81mm mortar bombs intended for Sri Lanka's army. The Sri Lankan armed forces never received this U.S. $ 3 million consignment of arms. The LTTE off-loaded the military supplies from this ship and transported it by small speed boats to LTTE jungle bases off Mullaitivu coast. These weapons, a month later, were used by the LTTE with a devastating effect to control the A9 Highway.

When the LTTE captured MV Cordiality near the port of Trincomalee, they killed all five Chinese crew members on board. On May 25, 1999, LTTE hijacked the MV Sik Yang, a 2818-ton Malaysian cargo ship with a cargo of bagged salt, which was sailing from Tuticorin, India and used it as a phantom vessel (Salt, sodium chloride can be changed to sodium chlorate easily, which when mixed with aluminum can make very powerful explosive powder). The fate of its 63-member crew is still unknown.

In December 2006, LTTE forced a Jordanian ship, MV Farah III carrying 14,000 tons of Indian rice to run aground. LTTE robbed the rice and removed all radio communication equipment, radar, lights and generators from the vessel. Asian Tribune reports on December 24, "Jordan Transport Ministry told the Jordanian news Agency, Petra that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) seized one of the Jordanian ships off Sri Lanka North East coast and burgled it."

In March 2007, LTTE hijacked an Indian fishing trawler “Sri Krishna” off the Moldavian waters and kept its crew hostage in Vanni. The Maldivian Coast Guard intercepted the vessel, reported missing since March 4, with a large consignment of artillery shells after LTTE cadres commandeered it and fired at the Maldivians. An Indian captain and four LTTE operatives were taken into custody by the Maldivian Coast Guard.

According to the Sri Lanka Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from October 1994 to January 2007, ships LTTE attacked also include MV Ocean Trader, MV Sea Dancer, MV Lanka Muditha, MV Irish Mona, MV Princess Wave, MV Athena, MV Mission, MV Morang Bong, MV Princess Kash, MV Newco Endurance, MV Julia, MV Mercs Uhana, MV Pride, MV Dunhinda, MV Fu-Yuan and MV Liverpool.

In addition, there were several sea battles with Sri Lankan naval forces, often marked by the use of Tiger "suicide boats." See here.

The Sea Tigers were known for their innovative boats and tactics, including the use of divers to attack ships in port. Other weapons included the alleged manned suicide torpedo. Attacks on merchant ships were not limited to divers. See here for a report on Tiger boats attacking a ship in port.

The "Sea Tigers" would assert, in part of their media campaign, to be live savers, as set out in their version of the Farah III episode:

The Tigers deny it is piracy and report the "rescue" of the crew see here:

Tamil Tiger rebels say they have rescued 25 sailors from a crippled Jordanian ship off Sri Lanka's north-eastern coast, dismissing government accusations that they staged a "pirate attack".

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiriyan says the seamen are being taken to safety despite rough seas.

"We noticed a ship drifting in our waters and we also saw suspicious activity of the Sri Lankan Navy [and] we boarded the ship to rescue the crew," he said.

But Sri Lanka's Defence Ministry says a distress message indicating that the vessel was "under armed pirate attack" was received by the Maritime Rescue Coordinating Centre in Britain, which conveyed it to the Sri Lankan naval authorities.

If reports of their end are true, not much time should be spent mourning their departure from the stage.

Sri Lanka: Sri Lankan Navy Takes on "Sea Tiger" Boats

The long and bloody war between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers continues with another sea battle, as set out here:

Sri Lanka Navy’s elite Special Boat Squadron (SBS) attacked an LTTE boat cluster in the seas off Alampil around 0130 hours on the 4th of April 2009.

The LTTE boat cluster numbering 10, which had been launched from the No-Fire-Zone in Puthumathalan, had comprised of 03 suicide craft and 07 attack craft. They had attempted to make a southward-bound move when the vigilant SBS personnel intercepted them and directed Naval gunfire completely destroying one enemy craft and disabling another. Two other enemy craft which had attempted to beach being unable to counter Naval fire were destroyed by the Ground Forces who quickly reacted cutting off the enemy escape. The rest had fled back carrying their casualties and re-landed in the No-Fire-Zone taking cover of the trapped innocent civilians inside.

Three Naval craft received minor damages and two sailors were injured in the incident. The exact casualty figure of the enemy is not known as at now. However, it is believed to be high due to the heavy combined fire directed at the enemy by the vigilant Navy and the Ground Forces.

More here:

A major sea-borne attack by the Tamil Tiger rebels has been foiled after the navy confronted a cluster of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) boats, killing 18 rebels onboard off the northeastern coast of Mullaitivu, defence sources said here Saturday.

According to the sources, the pre-dawn sea battle broke out when the navy's Special Boat Squadron (SBS) engaged a flotilla of 10 LTTE boats, which included three explosives-packed suicide boats, heading towards Alampil and Nayaru areas.
***
"During the sea battle two LTTE boats were destroyed and one more was damaged. The navy conducting the search operation in the area have already recovered at least 11 bodies of the LTTE cadres killed in the pre-dawn clash," a defence official attached to the Media Centre for National Security said Saturday.

He added that two naval sailors were wounded and three naval boats sustained minor damages in the battle that broke out around 1.30 am and lasted for several hours.

The official said that in a separate incident a couple of hours later in the same area, army troops manning the forward defence along the northeastern coastal belt have sunk two other LTTE boats.

"The troops have recovered seven bodies after this incident. Intercepted LTTE communications have revealed that the enemy has suffered heavy casualties," the defence official said.

Sri Lanka: Interesting LTTE Boats Captured

Photos of an interesting boat design attributed to the LTTE found by Sri Lankan military forces at a purported Tamil Tiger boat yard, as reported here in a typically florid piece from the SL government:

Troops of 58 Division on final phase of the Wanni liberating offensive uncovered the largest LTTE boat ever found during the Wanni offensive from northwest of Puthukudiyirippu yesterday, 23 February. , ,



The recovered sea tiger boat is nearly 60 feet long, military sources said.

LTTE terrorists have removed the engine and other accessories of the boat and abandoned it on a trailer when it was recovered by the troops.

Troops in further search and clear operations were able to locate the boats manufacturing yard in 500m away this morning, 24 February. Machineries used for the boat production, prototype of the boat and the removed accessories of the boat were also found from the boat yard, military sources added.

To me the boat appears to be a semi-submersible design with two screws, two rudders. Judging by the rust level it may not have been an active project.

In addition, there have been recent reports of captured LTTE submarines (with link to SL government site) with more photos, some of which are below. As you may note, some of the craft pictured at the government site do not appear to be submarines.





UPDATE: Daniel Sekulich at Modern Day Pirate Tales had an earlier report on the "LTTE subs."

Tamil Tigers: Suicide Planes

Terrorism trendsetters, the Tamil Tigers, claim to have used "kamikaze" aircraft on a mission against the Sri Lankan government, as reported here:

A Tamil Tiger plane on a "suicide mission" has flown into a government building in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo injuring at least 39 people.

It smashed into Sri Lanka's main tax office, detonating a bomb and causing a massive explosion.

A second plane involved in the mission was shot down by Sri Lanka's air force as it attempted to get away.

The country's only international airport was shut down and flights diverted to neighbouring India, military officials said.

Airforce spokesman Janaka Nanayakkara said gunners had brought down one of the light aircraft near the international airport.

Residents in Colombo said they heard blasts shortly after the electricity supply was cut off, plunging the capital and its half-a-million residents into darkness.

Anti-aircraft guns began firing into the night sky from several locations across the city.

Military officials say they tracked two aircraft which they believed to be those of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Those planes operate out of a narrow strip of land still under their control in the north-east of the island.

The propaganda arm of the LTTE claims the attacks were on the Sri Lankan Airforce HQ and an airbase.

More info here:

The military has recovered the wreckage of the aircraft and a body of the LTTE pilot from Katunayake area. The military, quoting initial investigation, said in a statement that that the pilot, whose body was found intact, had a large quantity of explosives and bombs inside the aircraft.

"The dead Tiger pilot was carrying two cyanide capsules and a powerful bomb with his seat," the statement said.

Sir Lanka: Tamil Tiger Underwater Gear Found

The government of Sri Lanka has been engaged in a major push against the Tamil Tiger rebels. As part of that offensive, government forces have located some Tiger underwater gear, as reported here:

Troops have recovered LTTE marine equipment including 20 diving kits and 3 underwater scooters. They were found by the 58th division commanded by brigadier Shavendra Silva in the area of Ampalavan and Pokkanai to the north of Puthukudiyiruppu. This is the first recovery made by the soldiers of LTTE marine equipment. Security forces believe that these equipment were to be used either for LTTE leaders to escape or for the use of suicide attacks.

Tamil Tiger suicide attack have been a model for other radical groups, including their use of suicide bomb belts. The "Sea Tiger" maritime portion of the group has engaged the Sri Lankan Navy in pitched sea battles and bombed ships in harbors. The equipment captured would support covert insertion of underwater attack units.

More here from the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defense:

Infantrymen of 58 Division further advanced into LTTE hiding area entering Ampalavanpokkanai town perimeter have found underwater scooter, diving kits, oxygen cylinders and many other diving equipments from west of Puthukudiyirippu area yesterday, 19 February.


Nearly 5 hours long fighting between troops of 6 Gemunu Watch (6GW) and terrorists ensued in the area before troops captured these items, defence sources in battlefront said.

Two underwater scooters, Oxygen cylinders in various capacities, modern diving kits, sniper weapon and many other diving equipments were among the items uncovered.

Pictures are from that site and appear to me to show rebreathing diving gear and one man sea scooters. Not fancy, but capable.

Sri Lanka: Tamil Tiger suicide boats try to take out food supply merchant ships

Reported as LTTE suicide attack damages one ship off Jaffna coast:

A Sri Lankan cargo vessel was “badly damaged” when the Tamil Tiger rebels Wednesday carried a pre-dawn-suicide attack targeting two government merchant vessels off the Kankesanthurai harbour in the northern Jaffna peninsula, naval sources here said.Navy spokesman Commander D.K.P. Dassanayake said that three explosive-laden suicide boats of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) targeted merchant ships Ruhuna and Nimalawa, off Kankasanthurai (KKS) harbour at 5.10 a.m. Wednesday.

“One of the suicide boats has exploded in close proximity to Merchant Ship Nimalawa causing considerable damage to the ship’s hull,” Commander Dassanayake said, claiming that these two merchant vessels were deployed to transport essential supplies to the northern Jaffna peninsula.

He said that the sailors providing security on board the targeted vessels “have engaged machine gun fire at the approaching suicide boats effectively, and destroyed two of them before ramming on the ships”.

He claimed that the third LTTE suicide craft had been captured by the navy.

Sri Lanka navy fights Tiger boats

The on-going battle between the Tamil Sea Tigers and the Sri Lankan navy continues, with allegations of Sea Tiger's using sea mines and the Sea Tigers asserting "suicide boats". Reported here:

Sri Lanka's navy has fought a battle with a flotilla of Tamil Tiger boats off the island's north-east coast.

It comes days after officials said a navy fast-attack craft was sunk by a sea mine. The rebels claimed it was sunk by a suicide attack.
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The latest sea confrontation took place in the middle of the night.

A navy patrol spotted a small flotilla of Tamil Tiger boats hugging the coast and opened fire.

Navy spokesman Lt Cdr Rohan Joseph said one rebel vessel was disabled in the fighting but he had no details on whether anyone on board was wounded or killed.

The use of sea mines by the Sea Tigers would be of interest to ships transiting the area, as Galrahn notes here, but for a variety of reasons, I tend to believe the Sea Tigers this time.

Sri Lanka: Sea battle

The Sri Lankan Navy and the terrorist Tamil Sea Tigers have another round as reported in Fierce sea battle leaves 41 dead in Sri Lanka:

At least 40 Tamil Tiger rebels and one naval officer were killed in a fierce sea battle off the coast of Sri Lanka's northern Jaffna peninsula on Wednesday, defense officials said.

Military Spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said 12 naval fast attack craft began to engage a Sea Tiger flotilla composed of 16 boats in the seas south off Delft island around 11:00 a.m. (0530 GMT), and the Air Force was also called to support the Navy.

Nanayakkara said in the four-hour sea battle, the Navy destroyed at least nine LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) boats and a naval attack craft was seriously damaged after being attacked by two LTTE suicide boats.

"The body of the officer-in-charge of the naval craft has been found and 10 sailors are still missing," said the spokesman, adding that searching operation is still going on in the area.

He said the LTTE boats were smuggling arms when they were found by the Navy near Delft, the farthest and biggest of the inhabited islands off the Jaffna peninsula.

Sources close to the LTTE said a naval fast attack craft was sunk by the LTTE and two craft were damaged in the battle.

More here:

But the government's Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said that the Sri Lankan navy had destroyed four of the 16 LTTE craft, which confronted a naval flotilla of 12 FACs. One FAC was damaged when two LTTE suicide boats rammed against it, the government said.

The FACs are Israeli made Dvoras. The LTTE uses improvised, indigenously made craft fitted with comparable or even better guns than the Sri Lankan FACs.

Photos show a Dvora and a couple of types of Sea Tiger boats.

Note that given that a favored tactic of the Sea Tigers involves the use of suicide boats, numbers of platforms and volume of fire would appear to be quite important...in fighting them.

A video of a previous sea battle in which a Dvora was sunk by a Sea Tiger force: And another of the the "Super Dvora":

Tamil Tigers: Sri Lanka captures Tiger Remotely Piloted Aircraft?

Reported as Two remote-controlled aircraft seized from LTTE:

The Sri Lanka Navy on Thursday claimed to have recovered two “remote-controlled aircraft”, following an attack on two “small size logistics boats” of the LTTE in the coastal waters north of Thallaimannar.

As per the Defence Ministry, Inshore Patrol Craft (IPCs) on Thursday morning confronted two small size LTTE logistic boats in the coastal waters, North of Thallaimannar and seized two remote-controlled aircraft along with many other sophisticated military equipment destined for delivery to the terrorists.

The navy targeted the suspicious boasts when they fired on the IPCs on being challenged to prove their identity. The navy believes that the four Tiger cadres on the boats were killed in the incident.

Inside the boats, the navy found two remote-controlled aircraft — one fixed wing aircraft with about 6ft wingspan and the other a miniature helicopter which is about 1ft in length. Among the other items that have been found are four radio communication sets, 10 hand-held Global Positioning Systems (GPS), four satellite phones, 45 radio antennas, 100 electronic circuit boards, battery charges and 300 litres of hydraulic oil.
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It is immediately not clear if the aircraft and the military equipment seized by the Navy was being transported to strengthen the nascent air wing of the LTTE. The rudimentary air wing of the Tigers hit world headlines in March-April this year after the LTTE low-flying aircraft managed to hit military targets on four different occasions.