 At least two rebel boats exploded in the harbour
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Posted on 10/18/2006 11:27:24 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Tamil Tiger rebels have carried out a suicide attack on a naval base in the southern Sri Lankan tourist city of Galle. Eyewitnesses to the attack and the chaotic aftermath describe what they saw.
At least two rebel boats exploded in the harbour
When we heard the first blast, we didn't know what it was. We immediately ran to get a view of the harbour.
We saw a few boats come into the harbour and explode. The boats we saw were high-speed boats and their explosions were sudden, unexpected and terrifying. There was a massive noise and window panes and other glass shattered.
Everyone ran into buildings close by and watched the harbour from there. There was a thick cloud of black smoke which rose up and covered everything.
There was a navy checkpoint in the water. Many big ships are parked there, there are also fishing boats. The checkpoint checked every boat morning and evening. That was where the first boat exploded. And once that went up, was when the others came racing in.
I think the navy thought this might happen. Earlier this year, I hear they came to people's houses here and asked for our help and told us to be alert.
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 We saw a few boats come into the water and explode
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After the explosions, everybody started shooting. It was terrifying. The navy boys were running around engaged in a gun battle and not fully dressed because it was early morning. They swarmed around the town, searching everything because some of the attackers disappeared into the town.
Then everybody started running. All the women and children ran to the temple.
From where I live, I could see everything that happened.
First, some boats came very slowly to the checkpoint and then one of them exploded. After that some other boats came very quickly from the sea straight into the navy camp. I think one or two of them exploded too.
It was unbelievable.
GALLE FACTS
Leading tourist hub - Galle Fort is Unesco world heritage site
Name comes from Portuguese fleet that landed in 1505
Harbour used by naval and commercial shipping
Leading Sri Lankan cricket venue
Town badly damaged in 2004 Asian tsunami
Then everyone in our area was in a panic. The navy came and evacuated people. Many ran away. Some of us still haven't let the women and children back into our homes.
We heard that some attackers may have escaped into town. The police are searching unoccupied buildings. They could hide anywhere. We were hit badly by the tsunami and there are still many half-built buildings, old water tanks where people could be.
So the men in my area are staying at home. But the children are really scared.
Everybody said that Galle was incredibly safe
We first heard the news when we got up this morning. There was a lot of commotion. We live about 25km inland from Galle on an old tea estate that is now an organic garden. We didn't see or hear anything.
We have about 28 Sinhalese workers who were very agitated and very afraid. The manager immediately sent everyone home and he stayed on to make sure the estate didn't get looted.
Since I have been in Galle, all Sri Lankans and all foreigners have been very dismissive of anything happening here. Everybody said that Galle was incredibly safe.
So this morning, when I saw our workers, I could see the look of disbelief on their faces. They couldn't imagine that their world had just been broken.
One of the workers here told me that her husband's friend, a navy soldier, had been killed. A good friend of ours who lives in the centre of Galle mentioned there had been some looting.
Calm has been restored to the city after the morning's attacks
I live in Karapitiya, which is where the main hospital in Galle is. In the morning there was great panic. The explosion happened just before school started. I heard the blast from my home. It was like nothing I had heard before.
Until we got the news, we didn't know what had happened. We suspected that it might be a bomb blast because of the security situation in the country but we didn't think it could really happen in Galle.
I saw many of the injured being brought to the hospital here.
After the explosions, the roads were blocked. There was panic. No vehicles were allowed through to the main centre because security personnel wanted to avoid people going to the danger area.
Because there is a school close to the naval base, parents were desperate to get there. People wanted to know if their loved ones were alright.
Port hit in S Lanka tourist city
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Two rebel boats exploded damaging navy vessels. Shots were also fired. At least two people died, officials said. The town is under curfew after unrest. It is the first time a tourist hub has been caught up in the latest fighting. On Monday, nearly 100 people, mostly sailors, were killed in the deadliest suicide bombing of the long conflict.
Air force jets carried out more raids on suspected rebel targets in the east of the island after the attack on the naval base. The rebels said one civilian had been killed in a raid near Batticaloa. Sri Lanka's military confirmed the raid, but denied civilian areas had been attacked. Gunboats Rebels infiltrated the Dakshina naval facility at Galle hiding between fishing boats in the adjoining harbour, a navy spokesman said.
One boat was destroyed and two others exploded, damaging some naval equipment. Another two vessels made it to shore where suspected rebels landed. Fighting went on for about an hour and a search operation for rebels was launched. The defence ministry said two people had been killed, one of them a sailor. At least 26 others, civilians among them, had been wounded, a statement said. Two more sailors are believed to be missing. "After the explosions, everybody started shooting. It was terrifying," local resident, Ramile Walgamage, told the BBC News website. "The navy boys were running around engaged in a gun battle and not fully dressed because it was early morning." As news of the raid spread, some members of the majority Sinhalese community attacked shops belonging to minority Tamils, police said. A curfew has been imposed. A local hotel manager, Mr Shamim, told the BBC News website that the city was full of policemen and soldiers enforcing the curfew.
"Our guests have not stepped out today. It is all very quiet outside. We hope the situation will improve later in the day," he said. Major Upali Rajapakse, a senior media co-ordinator with the Sri Lankan government in Colombo, played down reports of trouble: "There was a minor incident when some rowdies wanted to set fire to a shop. We have controlled the situation. There are no riots." Galle's police chief has denied reports that his officers opened fire to prevent rioting. The Tamil Tigers have made no comment on the latest incident. Galle, which is some 100km (70 miles) south of the capital, Colombo, is a popular destination for tourists. It also suffered badly during the Asian tsunami. The BBC's Dumeetha Luthra in Colombo says the latest attack is a worrying development for the country's tourist industry, as such areas had been largely free of violence. Bus blast At least 2,000 people have been killed in violence this year in Sri Lanka, the military and ceasefire monitors say.
Monday's bombing resulted in more fatalities than any other suicide attack in Sri Lanka's long and bloody civil conflict. A military bus convoy was attacked near the town of Habarana, 190km (120 miles) north-east of the capital Colombo. The rebels did not confirm or deny carrying out the attack but said it was justified. Both the government and Tamil Tigers say they will attend peace talks in Geneva next week, although few expect a breakthrough. Before a ceasefire was agreed in 2002, more than 60,000 people were killed in two decades of civil war. The Tamil Tigers are fighting for an independent homeland in the north and east of the country, and claim that ethnic Tamils have suffered decades of discrimination at the hands of Sri Lanka's Sinhalese majority. |
One good sunami will take care of that situation.
What is a "good" tsunami (correct spelling)?
Are you saying that a tsunami would be good because it would kill lots of people there? If so, then shame on you.
Would some dying in a disaster that breaks up the civil war be so terrible?
The East : Report from the Times of London
(excerpt)
The Army claims it is being welcomed in villages, including Tamil villages, because at least they represent some from of stability that neither the Tigers nor the police were able to provide.
Local government officials said that Muslims were cooking food for the soldiers in the village of Nintavur, on the coast where the bodies of 62 inhabitants were said to have been found following a massacre. There was no independent confirmation of such a massacre.
At Ingineyagala, 12 miles from here and scene of the earlier massacre of Tamils, scraps of clothing, a child's left shoe and broken d0lls lay among the scorched debris of 15 homes. There was a pervasive smell of death but around the ruined homes and a desecrated Hindu temple, where an image of the elephant for Ganesh lay smashed, a pink blossom was in bloom...
http://www.uthr.org/Reports/Report4/appendix2.htm
Sinhalese and muslims support the government and the Hindu 'Tamil Tigers' are the 'rebels' ... something doesn't smell right to me. Muslims as victims? Yeah, right.
The East : Report from the Times of London
(excerpt)
The Army claims it is being welcomed in villages, including Tamil villages, because at least they represent some from of stability that neither the Tigers nor the police were able to provide.
Local government officials said that Muslims were cooking food for the soldiers in the village of Nintavur, on the coast where the bodies of 62 inhabitants were said to have been found following a massacre. There was no independent confirmation of such a massacre.
At Ingineyagala, 12 miles from here and scene of the earlier massacre of Tamils, scraps of clothing, a child's left shoe and broken d0lls lay among the scorched debris of 15 homes. There was a pervasive smell of death but around the ruined homes and a desecrated Hindu temple, where an image of the elephant for Ganesh lay smashed, a pink blossom was in bloom...
http://www.uthr.org/Reports/Report4/appendix2.htm
Sinhalese and muslims support the government and the Hindu 'Tamil Tigers' are the 'rebels' ... something doesn't smell right to me. Muslims as victims? Yeah, right.
whoops! sorry about the double post...
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