Sri Lanka Learns To Counter Sea Tigers' Swarm Tactics

摘要

As Sri Lanka celebrated its Independence Day on 4 February, the Sri Lanka Army was closing in on the last pockets of resistance occupied by fighters from the separatist group LiberationTigers ofTamil Eelam (LTTE) in their jungle hideaways. After almost three decades of violent conflict, the government appeared confident that victory in the struggle for control of the island was finally within sight.rnThe LTTE's last major stronghold at Mullaitivu on the northeast coast of SrirnLanka fell on 25 January, forcing 2,000 rebels to flee into the hinterland. The loss of the town followed the seizure by government forces of the LTTE's self-proclaimed capital, Kilinochchi: the culmination of the steady collapse of the rebels' power base. The LTTE had been gradually losing its influence over Sri Lankan territory following the collapse of a UN-brokered ceasefire agreement in 2006.