The Hindu : LTTE observes military commander's death anniversary

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 16, 2003

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International

LTTE observes military commander's death anniversary

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO JULY 15. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) today marked the 20th death anniversary of one of its early military commanders, Charles Antony, and officially mourned the death of the 11 Sea Tigers, reportedly killed in a naval offensive off eastern Sri Lanka last month.

According to sources, processions by civilians and LTTE cadres, the latter in civvies, across the northern Jaffna peninsula, except the Government-held town, were the highlight of the day. Festoons with the LTTE's colours, red and yellow, were put up across the peninsula to mark the event.

The day passed off peacefully, contrary to expectations in some quarters of a military move by the rebels to mark the death anniversary of Charles Antony, who went by the nom de guerre, `Lt. Seelan'.

Military observers see the killing of Seelan, a close friend of the LTTE leader, V. Prabakaran, by the Sri Lankan security forces, as a trigger for the Tigers' ambush on 13 Sri Lankan soldiers on July 23, 1983. The killing of the soldiers, in turn, sparked the state-backed anti-Tamil backlash in Colombo and other parts of Sri Lanka directly leading to the escalation of the Sri Lankan Tamil armed separatist conflict.

Military observers credit Seelan's importance in the organisation to his involvement with key events in the 1980s that led to the ascent of the Tigers, then one among several Tamil militant groups. The rebels' first organised fighting formation and the LTTE leader's son, carry the name Charles Antony, marking the significance that the group has accorded to `Seelan'. The `Charles Antony brigade' is one of the two formidable rebel formations, the other being the `Jeyanthan brigade', which overran the Elephant Pass military garrison in the year 2000.

Compared to the days of Charles Antony, with the escalation of the conflict and the elimination of other Tamil militant groups, the LTTE has grown militarily. Its manpower is now said to be to over 16,000. The rebel arsenal is said to include three 130mm guns, with a maximum range of 27 km. Some other decisive weapons in the rebel armoury include the 152 mm gun (17.3 km) and multi-barrel rocket launchers.

The Sea Tigers vessels are fitted with naval guns seized from the Navy during the combat. The rebels' missile component before the ceasefire included anti-tank launchers and a collection of Stringer missiles. In addition to this firepower, the rebels are reportedly aiming at building up their anti-aircraft missile position considerably to blunt Colombo's air superiority, technically the main deterrent on LTTE gun movements.

A clear indicator of such moves came when the LTTE was caught transporting an anti-aircraft gun off the northern coast earlier this year. Three Sea Tigers killed themselves in a suicide explosion, which sank the trawler in which the anti-aircraft gun was found. Later, on March 10, an LTTE ship suspected to be carrying "war-like material'' was sunk off eastern Sri Lanka. The most recent LTTE vessel to be sunk was on June 14.

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