SAM attackLast week, two SLAF Bell-212s sustained minor damages when they were fired upon from the ‘No Fire Zone’ whilst evacuating casualties. The SAMs that hit the Bells are belived to be SA -18 missiles. LTTE is in possession of ten SA - 18 bought for US$ 900,000 using four offshore accounts.
Akurassa suspectThe Colombo LTTE intel leader was captured a few weeks ago, upon interrogation, he identified the Akurassa bomb suspect and he confessed that the suicide Black Tiger was trained by himself a few years ago in Mankulam. We will not reveal identities for security reasons.
The week aheadMeanwhile SLA has entered another week with high hopes. The hope started becoming reality during the last couple of days, civilians are trickling in steadily. EFT estimates 5,000+ civilians to flow into cleared areas during the next few days. Also as a result of the LTTE top hierarchy currently under attack by SLA, the LTTE is using their saved up high tech weaponry, we cannot reveal exactly what these weapons are but the Bell attack gives a taster.
LTTE victim of the credit crunch tooHedge funds are continuing to feel the full force of the credit crunch, it’s a widely known fact that the LTTE is also getting hammered by credit crunch. During the G20 summit leaders will discuss how to close the loop holes to avoid another credit crunch. They will also close down the legal loop holes which some groups have been exploiting till now to conceal assets. Therefore LTTE has a financial headache to worry about too.
Census conducted at IPD campsBelow are the results of the census carried out during month of March in IDP settlements.
There are some interesting facts to glean by looking at recently conducted census in civilian camps.
Age Groups of respondentsAge 1-10 15%
Age 11-20 14%
Age 21-30 6%
Age 31-40 35%
Age 41-50 17%
Age 51 + 13%
29% of the participants happened to be less than age of 20.
Pro LTTE vs Against LTTEAgainst LTTE 17%
Pro LTTE 13%
No Answer 70%
LTTE achievements in past (compared to previous sample)People who are happy about LTTE achievements
Past 32%
Now 12%
Below are % of some highlighted points. 90% of those now prefer peace.Former LTTE carders 1.0%
Full time supporters 3.0%
Weapon Trained 85.0%
People who think they need separate Tamil Eelam 0.8%
Peace 90%
Over 50% of the sample did not want to say anything due to the fear of safety of relatives / friends in No Fire Zone (NFZ)Total Number of Samples 1200
Did not want to say anything 696 (58%)
What do civilians think about SLA hospitatlity99% agreed army treated them well but they are not satisfied about the food
98% did not expect SLA to treat them this well
More than 50% told that SLA woud do something terrible to them from they heard about the SLA
SA-18EFT have managed to find a few details about SA-18 for our readers.
Ref: http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/missile/row/sa-18.htm
The SA-18 GROUSE (Igla 9K38) is an improved variant in the the SA-7 & SA-14 series of manportable SAMs. As with the earlier SA-14, the SA-18 uses of a similar thermal battery/gas bottle, and the SA-18 has the same 2 kilogram high-explosive warhead fitted with a contact and grazing fuse. But the missile of entirely new design with substantially improved range and speed,. The new seeker and aerodynamic improvements extend its effective range, and its higher speed enables it to be used against faster targets. The SA-18 has a maximum range of 5200 meters and a maximum altitude of 3500 meters. The 9M39 missile SA-18 employs an IR guidance system using proportional convergence logic. The new seeker offers better protection against electro-optical jammers; the probability of kill against an unprotected fighter is estimated at 30-48%, and the use of IRCM jammers only degrades this to 24-30%.
Maximum effective range 5200 meters
altitude, (m) 10-3500
Guidance mode passive IR homing
emplace/displace time 13 sec
EFT