Pak multi-barrel rocket launchers sent to Lanka

Pak multi-barrel rocket launchers sent to Lanka
ASHWANI TALWAR

COLOMBO, JUNE 4: Sri Lanka has acquired multi-barrel rocket launchers (MBRLs) from Pakistan to blunt the Tamil Tiger offensive in Jaffna, a newspaper reported here today as the Army claimed to have killed 14 militants in the Jaffna peninsula.

``The first few pieces of MBRLs that arrived from Pakistan (were) the subject of battlefield gossip,'' The Sunday Times said in an article which was vetted -- and had large chunks of it spliced -- by the government Censor. It said the MBRLs, already deployed in Jaffna, can empty out 30 barrels in one go.

The paper said more lethal versions of the MBRLs were due to arrive on the battlefield soon but did not specify if the source would be Pakistan.

Apart from the reported MBRLs purchased from Pakistan, Sri Lanka has also acquired arms from Israel. The surprise Colombo decision to re-establish diplomatic relations with that country last month has been attributed to the urgent need for Israeli arms.

Another paper, The Sunday Observer, reported that Israel would supply combat boats with missile capability. The missiles have a 36-km range and can be launched from different kinds of sea platforms.

With this kind of armoury, the Navy will be able to ``neutralise'' the LTTE's naval bases in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. ``The new strategy will be to squeeze the LTTE's vital ordnance supply lines by striking at the sea Tiger bases and clandestine harbours,'' the report said.

Colombo plans to buy Kfir jets and artillery pieces from Israel, reports say. It is also buying weapons from East European countries. Talking to reporters during his visit here, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Pickering too confirmed that military purchases with US were discussed.

Meanwhile, while the military has not reported regaining any of the territory lost to the Tigers in recent weeks, the LTTE's ``rolling assault'' appears to have stopped. And the troops have begun conducting limited offensive operations in the Jaffna peninsula, like the one reported today.

The military said the troops ambushed an LTTE group, clearing a route for the movement of its cadre, at Karadlyankadu. The soldiers, who had laid mines, used small arms and later directed mortar fire at the Tigers, killing all eight. While withdrawing, the soldiers attacked an LTTE bunker, killing three more. Three militants were killed in another skirmish with soldiers operating ahead of their defence.

In Batticaloa, the government said, two Tamils were abducted when their families refused to pay ransom to the LTTE. Three fishing boats had also been seized by the militants, it said.