Firing in Lankan safety zone kills 2,000: Reports

Colombo: A pro-LTTE website has reported that indiscriminate shelling last night by the Sri Lankan army has killed over 2,000 civilians, including a large number of children in the so-called safety zone.

At least 257 bodies have been taken to hospital and over 800 wounded managed to reach a makeshift hospital. A report said that dead bodies are strewn in the area and alleged that every kind of lethal weapon, some of them internationally banned, was used on the civilians.

Earlier, seeking to allay Indian Navy's apprehensions of LTTE using the sea route to get into Tamil Nadu or other areas, Sri Lanka said that it deployed an almost impregnable four-layered Navy defence line to prevent the Tigers from escaping through the Mullaittivu coast.

The Sri Lankan Navy is on full alert off the Mullaittivu seas in order to prevent any escape attempt by LTTE leaders or cadres to India, a senior Navy official said.

He said it had a four-layered tight defence line consisting of Fast Attack Crafts (FACS), Off-shore Patrol vessels (OPVS), Gun Boats and the Rapid Action Boat Squardon and Special Boat Squardon.

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"India need not have any apprehensions. We will not allow the LTTE cadres or leaders to leave Mullaittivu coast as we are on a full alert," the official said.

While the first Navy defence line consisting of the Special Boat Squadron (SBS) would be close to the Mullaittivu safety zone, one nautical mile away from the land, the second defence line would have the presence of Navy's newly formed Rapid Action Boat Squadron that will jointly patrol with SBS.

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The Third Navy defence line involves the Dvora squadron comprising a large number of Dvoras fast attack crafts using sophisticated radars to monitor the land and the sea area, the state-run Sunday Observer reported.

As far as the fourth line of Naval defence is concerned, it will consist of offshore patrol vessels which operate more than 50 nautical miles away from the land, the report said.

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OPVS's main task is to prevent any illegal entry to Lankan territorial waters.

On Saturday, both Indian Navy chief Admiral Suresh Mehta and Vice-Admiral S K Damle, speaking at Shillong and Panaji respectively, had expressed apprehensions of the cornered LTTE cadres sneaking into India.

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"It is a sea route and they use boats. The miscreants (LTTE rebels) are on a fleeing spree and could enter Indian territory. We have a system in place to screen everyone who enters our territory," Admiral Mehta had said.

Till date, however, none has entered Indian territory, he said, "We have no doubt in our capabilities to prevent the miscreants from entering Indian territory."

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In Panaji, Vice-Admiral S K Damle, flag Officer Commanding in Chief, Southern Naval Command, said the LTTE is trying to infiltrate into India through the western coast.

Earlier this week, the Lankan Army battling LTTE rebels in their last stronghold in the north discovered a 360ft long and 25ft wide underwater 'metal home' in Mullaittivu.

The Sri Lankan defence official felt this could have been a "escape vehicle" for the rebel leaders including elusive LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran. (With NDTV inputs)