Lanka air strike threat to India too
Shuchi Yadav
CNN-IBN

New Delhi: Tuesday's attack on an army camp in Batticaloa used the tried and trusted suicide bomber. He tried to crash an explosives laden tractor into the camp, didn't quite succeed and blew himself up along with seven others. Many were injured in the incident.

But Monday's LTTE air strike continues to worry Colombo. An inquiry is underway into how the rebel aircraft were never detected.

Some reports indicate that the Indra air defense radars gifted by India some years ago were not working.

The inquiry will also go into why the Lankan Air Force did nothing to stop the rebel aircraft from getting away.

The air strike coincides with reports of a planned new offensive by the Sri Lankan army, expected in Mannar and Vavunia.

Sri Lankan troops are also expected to move forward from around Jaffna.

In this connection, reports of a second rebel air strike near Mullaitivu apart from the one in the Wanni jungles have come in. Experts believe the new air strike could be used for night attacks on Lankan forces in those areas.

“For the Sri Lankan Government, it is a concern. Aircraft is not something that you can hide inside a shed or inside a jungle. They have to have a landing strip where they have to land. It might be possible they might not be using the same strip,” said Lieutenant General A S Kalkat (Retd), former IPKF commander.

Indian intelligence sources say the rebels may have as many as eight different types of aircraft, which is a huge leap in capability.

"A Government which could not prevent such a strike certanily will come under attack," said Sri Lanka analyst, Narayanswami.

The threat is not only to Sri Lanka. The rebels’ links with other terrorist groups like Harkat-ul-Mujahideen make it possible that weapons could be traded and that’s where the risk to India lies.

SOURCE http://www.ibnlive.com/news/world/03_2007/what-lanka-air-strike-means-to-india-37110.html