Tamil Tigers launch air attack

[WE Branch Fanatic]

From Janes.

BBC report

This seems like a very worrying development, air attacks by terrorists.

[vecvechookattack]

Very worrying. What on earth are those pilots wearing? Why the blue camo uniform? why is at DPM ? what are they camo'd from ?

what ? why? who designed that?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6496499.stm

[Tigs2]

WE B, VeVe
come on guys, i thought you were both in touch with reality. Since when have the Tamils thought they were a terrorist force?. They are now organised, and have been for a long time. The complexities of this country cannot be understood by the likes of you or I. Drive into most garages in London and you will find that they are not staffed by Indian folks, but by decent Sri Lankans who when asked say that they are Tamil. This is a faction of people who are oppressed for ethnic reasons. If they were a minority terrorist force, there is noway they could get some aircraft in country fitted with weapons. They are supported by a huge amount of people.
Now it would be worrying if the Sunnis Insurgents had these aircraft in Iraq.

[knowitall]

"The complexities of this country cannot be understood by the likes of you or I."
certainly not by you, just because they Tamils do not assume they support the LTTE

not that they get given much of a say in the matter from either side

[Boldface]

Obviously, this is proof if proof were needed that we should never have retired the SHAR!!!!

[blackace]

just because they are Tamils do not assume they support the LTTE

I quite agree, my wife is Tamil. I assure you she is no terrorist or freedom fighter.

Some background information for clarification.

Tamils are a Race of People, their homeland is in Tamil Nadu, India, with a population of about 63 Million.

In Sri Lanka, Sinhalese form the majority of the population (around 74%), with Tamils, who are mostly concentrated in the north and east of the island, forming the largest ethnic minority.

The LTTE and the Tamil minority run and control the north west of Sri Lanka, the central government has absolutely no powers in these areas and has been trying to retake them for years.

The LTTE is a politico-military organization that has been waging a secessionist campaign against the Sri Lankan government since the 1970s in order to secure a separate state for the Tamil majority regions in the north and east of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon). The LTTE is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by 32 countries.

The LTTE is also considered a terrorist organisation by many Tamils living in India, the coastal stretches of Tamil Nadu are constantly monitored for LTTE activity due to concerns that they may be being resupplied from the homeland. This is not usually the case and the LTTE has very little support in Tamil Nadu.

The LTTE has almost no capacity for air strikes. In this case a light aircraft was used and small bombs were attached to the wings.

A worrying development, but not one which is expected to continue or become a main attack strategy.

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

Well, actually, the bombs looked quite substantial and were mounted on centreline bomb carriers between the U/C legs of, what is believed to be, a Zlin 143;
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.../26/wsri26.xml

The story of Tamil migration over the years and the eventual outcome could, arguably, be a lesson to us all

[BombayDuck]

It is not much different from what happened to India around the mid-1940s, resulting in what became India, Pakistan and a lot of unpleasantness. British occupation and subsequent withdrawal of Ceylon (now back to the old name of Sri Lanka) caused a major rift between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority because the former believed (rightly, or wrongly) that the British favoured the latter. The British forces didn't help much by playing one side against the other just like they did with Hindu and Muslim communities in the Indian subcontinent