Tamil Tigers downplay sea debacle

According to the Govt, 11 Tiger boats are destroyed and dozens of cadres are killed, reports PK Balachandran.

Downplaying Sunday's sea battle off Pulmoddai, in which, according to the Sri Lankan government, 11 Sea Tiger boats were destroyed and dozens of Tiger cadres were killed, the LTTE came out with a terse announcement late Monday afternoon, saying that it lost three fighters in the five-hour battle.

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The LTTE's Military Spokesman, Rasaiah Ilanthirayan, is quoted by the pro-LTTE website Tamilnet and www.puthinam.com as saying that about 25 Sea Tiger boats were on a routine patrolling mission in the East when they were intercepted by 25 Sri Lankan Naval vessels at 9.45 pm.

In the battle that followed, three cadres were killed, but the Sea Tigers inflicted heavy damage on a navy Dvora Fast Attack Craft (FAC), he said.

The "patrol mission was successful", Ilanthirayan claimed, and said that the Sea Tigers would continue to go on these missions.