Angry Delft Islanders burn five LTTE bodies

The Delft islanders burnt the five bodies of the LTTE Sea Tigers in anger when they were washed ashore on Friday. Several Sea Tiger cadres were killed by the Navy on Thursday when they launched an attack at the Queenta Beach in Delft, sources said.

The Sea Tigers had launched the attack in the wee hours on Thursday at the Naval post at the Queenta Beach in Delft where four sailors were killed. However, the Navy with the reinforcements and the aerial support of the Air Force had repulsed the attack successfully by destroying several LTTE vessels and killing more than twenty cadres on board, the sources said.

The Sea Tigers arrived at the Queenta Beach in fifteen boats and four of them carried the suicide cadres. Most of the vessels were destroyed by the Air Force planes and the Naval gunships, the sources said.

The Delft which is the largest island in the Jaffna Peninsula did not experience any serious incidents of this nature earlier and the people in the island live in harmony with the Navy personnel.

The main livelihood of the island is fishing and the fisherfolk go fishing without any interruptions by the Navy. However, following the restrictions imposed on fishing after the attack on Thursday, the angry islanders burnt the five bodies of the Sea Tigers with dried palmyrah leaves without allowing them to be handed over to the LTTE through the ICRC, reports said.

Meanwhile, the security in the island areas has been tightened by the Navy to prevent the Sea Tigers intruding the island areas, the sources said.

The sources also added that the LTTE was attempting to sneak into the islands and the Jaffna Peninsula by sea as the land corridors and exit points often used by the terrorists are now under control by the security forces.

Two LTTE cadres were killed on Friday at 8.30 am at Muhamalai in the Thenmarachchi region in the peninsula when a group of LTTE cadres attempted to attack the soldiers manning the FDL, the sources said.